The Creed in Corona
by Cossacks250
Summary: With Robert de Sable dead, Altair must now head to the kingdom town of Corona in the hopes of tracking down his lieutenant to find this tenth Templar. Whilst there he make new friends and enemies. Some OC's.
1. Prologue

**Note: I do not own Tangled or Assassin's Creed.**

The air was thick with the mist that seemed to cover the land. Alongside it was the noise of the shouting, clanging of metal against metal and the screams of the battle raging between Richard the First's army of Crusaders and the Saracen army of Saladin, making this land with a mist sound like it was something out of a horror or a suspense/supernatural film, only this time it was real. Even the sky itself seemed to have taken to this supernatural mood as it was completely grey and barely any sunlight was breaking through the crowds to the ground below. It was as if though the clouds were trying to obscure the battle with the mist and the clouds, just for extra measure, from the sun so it would not see the bloodshed and the dying of the warriors on both sides.

In one part of the land just a few hundred metres from where the battle was raging, at a kind of crossroad of pathways between two small rocky hills, to which wooden walls were built around and tents were set up, signalling this was the camp of one of the two sides fighting in the current battle, a different kind of battle, different in not only that it was much smaller than the larger one being fought nearby but also who it was between, had just ended, the bodies of the fallen littering the ground, never to rise again. They were all dressed in a kind of white or light silver armour, some having silver helmets on, and others red. The red helmeted men were Templars. Gathered around the scene where the battle had taken place were more men dressed in white armour, some with or without the helmets of either colour. Among them was King Richard I himself, standing in his red armour, his arms crossed, looking out over the scene like some kind of spectator. His eyes, moving back and forth between the bodies, finally rested on two figures in the middle of the battle space.

One of them was one of his men, a tall bald headed man of about thirty, maybe a little older, with a heavy build and dressed in thick silver armour with a kind of similar coloured cloak lying below him, it stained slightly with small spots of blood, was lying almost completely on the ground. His neck was stained with more blood coming out of a wound just below the collar of his uniform. The name of the man was Robert de Sable, a French Templar crusader and the lieutenant of King Richard I. His head was being held up by another man who was kneeling down beside him. He was around about the same age but was dressed in a kind of large white cloth with brown boots and thin armour on underneath the cloak, a small belt around his waist with a small pocket of throwing knives and a small blade attached to it. A sword holder was also attached to the belt, the weapon withdrawn into it. His name was Altair, an assassin, the sworn enemy of the crusaders and the one who had inflicted the wound on Robert that would almost certainly kill him now.

The result of the fighting here moments earlier was the bodies of the fallen soldiers lying scattered. Altair had arrived here to confront Robert, someone he deemed to be his 'final target', and had told Richard of Robert's plot to kill him and take the Holy Lands for himself and the Templars. Richard had not believed him but neither Robert when he insisted that Altair was lying, and so he left it in the hands of someone who he certainly knew was wiser than him: God. Now, the bodies were the result of that and they were about to be joined by Robert very soon.

"It's done," Altair said to Robert, making eye contact with his enemy to finally show him he and his plans were no more. "You and your schemes are put to rest,"

Robert, to Altair's amazement, though he did not show it, just chuckled weakly, coughing slightly as he did. Schemes! Ha, he knew nothing!

"You know nothing of schemes, boy!" he said, a weak but determined smile creeping across his face, staring back into the penetrating eyes of Altair. "You are but a puppet, Altair. He betrayed you, just as he betrayed me,"

Altair stared into Robert's eyes with disbelief, but also determination in trying to find an answer to what he was saying, but it just made no sense. Who had betrayed Robert? More importantly, who had betrayed Altair?

"Speak sense, Templar!" Altair demanded. "Or not at all!"

Robert's smile faded a little, but it still remained on his face as if still laughing that Altair did not know what he knew.

"Nine men he sent you to kill yes?" he asked in a sarcastic manner. "Nine men who guarded the treasure's secret,"

"What of it?" Altair asked, the demand still lingering in his voice.

"It was not nine who found the treasure, boy. It was ten,"

Altair went a little wide-eyed upon hearing Robert's words. "A tenth?" he almost exclaimed. He paused for a moment, trying to calm himself so as not to let Robert know he was scared or shocked, even though Robert knew how Altair would react to this. "None may live who carry the secret," he said calmly. "Give me his name, Robert," he ordered, his other hand, which was curled into a fist around Robert's chest cloth of his uniform, tightening a little.

Robert just smiled again, though this time it went slightly bigger than before. "Oh, but you know him very well. And I doubt that you'll be as eager to take his life as you have done with me,"

"Who is it?" Altair demanded, his voice almost shouting now. Another pause and Robert only coughed. "Tell me his name!" he shouted.

Robert just chuckled again. "If you wish to know, Altair, then you will find _my_ lieutenant. With me gone, only he now knows who this tenth person is," he coughed again and his breathing became heavier, the smile now fading completely into a slightly open mouth, trying to draw several last breaths to keep the body of the person they were part of alive. "Your master will know where he is. He always does with people like me…"

Then, with one last breath, Robert's head dropped sideways and his eyes closed, his mouth open slightly, but no more breaths came in or out of it, nor would any more noise ever utter from his lips once again.

He was dead.

Altair moved his hand from behind Robert's head, letting it thud to the ground. He released his other hand from Robert's cloth and stood up, staring with complete disbelief in his eyes at Robert, his mind going blank with shock, unable to comprehend what he had just been told. A tenth had found the treasure as well? How? And what of Robert's lieutenant? Who was to say he had not told anyone else? Where was he anyway?

Footsteps drew Altair's eyes up to see Richard and several of his men, who had their swords drawn, walking towards him, ready to attack. Adrenaline began to refill him, ready to fight his way out of here. Luckily, though, Richard halted and held out his arm, halting his men as well.

"Well fought assassin!" he congratulated, looking down at Robert's corpse. "It seems the Lord favoured this today,"

"No, god had nothing to do with it, sire," Altair replied, looking back down at Robert as well. "I was the better fighter,"

Richard gave a slight chuckle. "You may not believe in him," he said, looking back at Altair, meeting his gaze. "But he certainly seems to believe in you,"

Altair did not reply. He just stood where he was for a moment, still as a statue, his mind replaying everything Robert had said to him and the past few days' missions. He had been over much of the Holy Lands these past few days, going from Masyaf to Jerusalem to Damascus to Acre and it had finally ended here at Assaf, or so he had fought until what Robert told him of his lieutenant.

He half turned to walk away, but Richard stopped him.

"Wait, assassin," he said, stopping Altair and making him look back at Richard. "Before you go, I have a question for you,"

"Ask it then," Altair replied, not hiding his demand, wanting the answer to come now so he could go back to Masyaf and talk to his master.

Richard nodded. "Why?" he asked. "Why travel all this way, risk your lives a thousand times, and all to kill a single man?"

A pause hung in the air for a moment as if Altair was trying to remember everything. Why he had been sent to find and kill Robert, why he had been sent on this enormous task to kill the Templars. Even though it had all been very recent, it seemed so long ago like some kind of different memory now.

"He threatened my brothers and what we stand for," Altair replied tonelessly.

"Oh," Richard replied, raising his head a little in a kind of nod in realisation. "Vengeance drove you to this then," he said.

"No, not vengeance," Altair told him. "Justice," he added as if the word stood out. "Justice so that there might be peace from his death,"

Richard gave him a puzzled look. "This is what you and your brothers fight for?" he asked as if the answer was too hard to find himself. "Peace?" he gave a slight laugh. "I thought you would have seen the contradiction out of your task,"

"Well, some men cannot be reasoned with," Altair pointed out.

"Like that madman, Saladin?" Richard inquired as if knowing he was a perfect example of what Altair was saying to him.

"Not really. I think he would like to see an end to this war, sire. Just like you would,"

Richard half turned, raising his hand as if already knowing about these words Altair was telling him.

"So I've heard," he replied lowly in a slightly annoyed manner. "But never seen," he added, looking back at Altair.

"Sometimes it doesn't come from what they say," Altair explained to him. "Even if he does not say it, it is what the people, Crusader and Saracen, Christian and Muslim alike. It's what they both want,"

Richard scoffed at this. "You must be mistaken there, assassin. The people do not know what they want," he said. "And It's that very reason why they turn to men like me and Saladin so we can show them what they want,"

"Then it falls to men like you and Saladin to do what is right," Altair replied.

Another scoff. "Nonsense! We come into the world kicking and screaming from the wombs of our mothers. Violent and unstable. Those two things stick with us right through our lives assassin, whether for our own ends or for peace or war or whatever. It is just what we are. We cannot help ourselves,"

Another pause. The noise from the battle continued to fill the air. Screams and shouts and metal against metal seemed to emanate out of the mist, sending a chill through the air. The men, though felling it, were not frightened. Whether it was because they fought it was the Saracens that were being slaughtered or whether they believed they had God on their side even if they were losing was hard to tell. Maybe they _were_ scared, but they were hiding it well, even without the helmets. Then again, that it was being a soldier is about. You are taught to hide your fear, no matter how much it will want to hide you. Difficult at first, but after a while, after seeing blood and comrades be torn in two and other atrocities that can be committed both on a battlefield and in a residence of that of your enemy, it does not affect you as much. That is the strange thing about fear.

"No," Altair said lowly as if he had been corrected by Richard. It was true though. Even he had been violent and unstable and had carried that with him through his life. Look at what he had done that had gotten him onto this huge task in the first place. He had been violent and unstable then, going against the creed of the Assassins. It was just Human nature. "We are what we choose to be,"

Richard gave another slight laugh. "It really does amaze me, assassin," he said to Altair. "Your kind. You're always playing with words,"

"I speak the truth!" Altair snapped. "There's no trick to be found here,"

"We'll know soon enough. But…" Richard half turned, looking back at Robert's corpse. "I fear that you cannot have what you desire this day. Even now that heathen, Saladin, is cutting through my men, and, like any responsible commander, I must attend to them. But perhaps…" he stopped and looked up at Altair. "He will reconsider his actions," another pause and he nodded to himself. "Yes, in time what you have hoped to gain here today, assassin, it may become possible in the future,"

"You were no more secure than him, sire," Altair replied. "Do not forget that. The men you left behind to rule in you're stead did not intend to serve you for longer than they had,"

"Yes, yes," Richard nodded, agreeing with Altair. "I am well aware of that, assassin. I may even thank you for that,"

"There is no need," Altair turned and began to walk away back up the path that he had come to here earlier on. "I'll take my leave, sire. My master and I have much to discuss about this lieutenant of Robert's,"

"Do not try and think of him as some kind of animal, assassin," Richard said to Altair, stopping him momentarily. "He is only Human, as are we all,"

Altair nodded and looked back at Richard over his shoulder. "Safety and peace be upon you, sire. I hope you and Saladin find a peaceful solution to this war,"

He looked back ahead of him and began walking up the path towards a turning at the end, leaving Richard and his men to watch him go.

Altair now had a new mission. He would have to get back to Masyaf and tell his master about this lieutenant of Robert and hope they would be able to find him and put an end to him as well, obviously hoping that he would be able to find this tenth Templar Robert had told him about. After all, despite the conversations he had just had with Robert and Richard, he knew that no one who knew the truth could live.


	2. A new task

**Later that day**

"Come in, Altair,"

Altair stepped over to the table where several scrolls of paper and the Apple treasure were placed, scattered about messily on the wooden surface of the object. The sunlight poured into the castle room through the window, lighting it up and giving anyone who looked out it a view of the training courtyard, and the men practicing in it, below and the rest of the castle. Eagles flew by, resting on any high point that their clawed feet could grip with ease. Either side of the window were two large bookcases filled to the rim with books, some old and dusty, others new, having been written, but each having their own tales and perspectives on things.

Standing in front of the bookcase to the left of the window was an elderly man slightly shorter than Altair who was dressed in the same kind of uniform as him, but rather than having a completely white hood, he was donned in a kind of black robe. He had a long grey beard that came down from his chin, stopping just above his chest. He looked to be in his late fifties/early sixties. His name was Al Mualim, the master of the Assassins Creed group and pretty much the leader of Masyaf. Like Altair, he was an experienced warrior, having been even greater than the one who he called his best student when he was younger. Altair was like a son to him, but the recent mission he had given his pupil to kill the Templars had actually been in punishment for breaking the Creed when he had confronted Robert under the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. He had been buried in a book, but when Altair had arrived he slammed it shut and put it back in the bookcase.

As he did this though, a hint of concern did begin to arouse within him. When Altair had first confronted Robert there at the temple, his failure to kill him and to gain the treasure that lay on the table now had earned him the punishment and the mission he had just finished. Even though Al Mualim did doubt now that Altair had made the same mistake twice, he had learned through experience never to have your hopes too high. Doing that too much was certain to bring about failure.

"Were you able to complete your task, Altair?" he asked Altair, walking up to the side of the table.

Altair nodded. "It is done, master," he replied in a kind of low defiant voice. "Robert is dead, and his scheme is gone with him,"

Al Mualim nodded, breathing a quiet of relief from his lips. He had finally learned from his mistake and, in doing so, had secured the Holy Lands from the grip of the Templars. Peace would finally be restored.

"Or so I think, master," Altair added after a moment's pause.

Al Mualim looked up at him, a slight hint of confusion lingering in his eyes, but he tried not to show it to him.

"What do you mean, Altair?" he asked calmly.

"When I killed Robert, master, he said that ten Templars had in fact found the treasure rather than nine," Altair explained. "What's more, he said that if I was to find this Templar, I had to find his, Robert's, lieutenant,"

For a moment, Al Mualim stared at him as if frozen in time like a statue. Altair searched his face, waiting to see how he would react. Though he could not be sure, he did have a hint that his master was just as shocked as he was.

Al Mualim nodded and walked behind his table, holding one hand in the other behind his back.

"I did not expect him to be a threat to us," he muttered, though it was loud enough for Altair to hear him, who watched his master halt behind his desk with disbelief. What? H-he knew about him?

"You knew about him, master?" Altair asked, flabbergasted, causing Al Mualim to look up at him.

"Some time before we officially named Robert as a target, his lieutenant was a young man, like many of the Crusaders here now," Al Mualim explained, sitting down in his chair behind his table. "Young, adventurous and eager to die for his God and for Christendom in the fight against Saladin and the Muslims. As the years passed, Robert came to notice this man's technique for battle as he was a good strategist and leader just like him and appointed him to be his lieutenant and informed him of his 'secret project' which was in finding this treasure that we have here now," Al Mualim held out his hand toward the treasure as if to prove his point and prove it to be a sign of Robert's failure. Altair stood where he was, listening intently to what his master was saying to him.

"What happened to him?" he asked.

"Well," he replied. "When Robert had found the treasure not too long ago now, he feared that if he told his lieutenant, despite his close friendship and loyalty to him, he would be killed, so he said they had found something of great importance in Solomon's Temple. The day after that, Robert had his lieutenant discharged and told him to go back to his home; though with him he took the names of the Templars who had found the treasure. With all the Templars dead, only he knows who this last one is,"

"Then we must find him, master," Altair said eagerly in a determined voice. No more was this Templar threat going to be a menace to the Holy Lands. This time, they were going to end it! "Robert said that you knew where he was,"

"That is true, Altair," Al Mualim replied, getting up from his seat and walking over to the bookcase to the right of the window. He picked out a thick book and walked back over to the table with it, blowing off most of the dust on the cover and using his hand to brush of the rest.

_It must be an old book for it to be that dirty _Altair thought as his master sat down and began searching through the light brown/cream coloured pages, another sign of It's age.

After about a minute of searching, Al Mualim muttering under his breath: "What page is it again?" he finally found it and turned the book to Altair and pushed it towards the end of the table.

"This is where is lieutenant resides now, Altair," he said.

Altair stepped forward and looked down at the page. It had a large hand drawn picture on it, showing a large castle at the top of a city that seemed to be squashed onto an island in the middle of a huge lake. Surrounding it were several ships and coming off the front of the island was a large stone bridge that connected to a smaller island and then went further on to the mainland. Below the picture was a description of the kingdom with the first words being: _Corona, the island kingdom_.

"Corona?" Altair muttered, having never heard of such a place before. He looked up at his master, who nodded.

"Yes, it is an island kingdom, as the book says, along the Italian coast to the east of Venice," he replied. "This is where his lieutenant lives Altair, carrying with him the knowledge of the Templars who found the treasure. You must find him and find out who this tenth man is,"

"And then I take it I must take his life when I have found out," he finished the sentence. Al Mualim nodded. "Very well," Altair straightened up. "I am ready to finally complete my task, master,"

"Good, and, in fact, this task has come as a sort of coincidence at this time, Altair," Al Mualim shut the book and got up and walked over to the bookcase to put it back.

"What do you mean?" Altair asked.

"Well…" Al Mualim pushed the book back into the space it had been in before turning back to Altair. "There is a rumour going around that Corona is actually becoming a famous kingdom. Rumours that it has become a city of the healthy, of the clean with a lower death rate of illness than…well, anywhere we could imagine,"

"It does seem like something is at work there," Altair commented.

"There is," Al Mualim replied. "Some kind of cure has obviously been found, though what exactly, I do not know but we must find out as I fear that since Robert's lieutenant is there, he may find it and give it to the Templars to use in their bid to take over the Holy Lands and destroy us and our chance for peace as well,"

"So what would you have me do?"

"Whilst you are searching Corona for Robert's lieutenant, you must find this cure and try to get it or a sample of it. If you cannot get neither, at least try and see what it is. Write back to me when you have found out,"

Altair nodded, but then realised he had one problem to his mission. "Master, what of the lieutenant's guards?" he asked. "I am sure that if I am to kill him, his guards, and most possibly the city's guards, will come looking for me,"

"Do not fear, Altair. There is a solution to that as well," his master reassured him. "There is a carpenter who works there in Corona, an old associate of mine. His name is Salad-al-hunim. I will write him a message of your arrival and tell him that you can use his place as a refuge when you are in Corona,"

Altair nodded. "Thank you, master,"

"That's quite alright," Al Mualim turned back to the bookcase and picked off a small piece of parchment from one of the shelves. "Now go. Free the world from this Templar menace and ensure peace upon the Holy Lands,"

"I will," and with that, Altair turned and walked back along the pathway between several more bookcases and a small barrier overlooking the castle foyer a few metres below. He walked down the steps, passing the exit out into the gardens of the castle at the back of it, and across the foyer to the castle entrance, emerging out into the courtyard to be embraced by the sunlight and the cool breeze blowing through the air. A welcoming feeling, and something he was going to need a lot now he was to be travelling half-way across Europe to Italy.

"I hope now I can end this threat to us," he muttered to himself as he walked towards the castle entrance that led down into the city of Masyaf, ready to leave for Italy as soon as possible.


	3. Discovery

**Meanwhile, in Jerusalem**

In the sky far off to the east, the first light of day was beginning to form. Throughout the streets of the holy city, considered to be the holiest in the world, people were already up and about with work, training or going to see friends and family. Around the walls of the great city, Saracen guards stood on watch, gazing out over the great landscape that surrounded Jerusalem. Amongst it were several small tent camps where several guards were placed on outpost positions to warn of any incoming attack from the Crusaders.

Since falling back into the hands of Saladin, Jerusalem had begun to return to normal following the change of Christian leadership of the holy city to Islamic leadership as it had been before the First Crusade almost a hundred years earlier now. People of all faiths were welcome into the city and with an army of almost unstoppable Saracens protecting Jerusalem; it looked as though Richard I had very little chance of re-taking the city. For the moment, anyway, the war between the Crusaders and the Muslims was focused mostly on and around Acre, a settlement to the north that the Crusaders had captured. Although the fighting had now died down for now, there were still negotiations continuing between the two leaders over the possession of the Muslim prisoners that had been captured during the Crusader siege of the city months earlier. However, neither side was gaining the advantage in these talks, though, and they were certain to end in further bloodshed before the war was all over.

Jerusalem held many religious sites for Christianity, Islam and Judaism. For Christianity, it was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where it is said Jesus had been crucified and buried. For Islam, the Dome of the Rock mosque where their prophet Muhammad had ascended to Heaven and for Judaism, it was, or had been, the Temple of Solomon, named after the king of the Israelites. The Temple of Solomon, however, had not survived the destruction of man and time and had been burned by the Romans centuries before. Many caverns ran through the mountain it was placed on, leading in and out of the temple remains.

In one of the caverns that led into a large room of the temple, coming to an end on a kind of bastion about thirty feet above the floor, a tall man with black hair, a small beard and was dressed in a kind of blue robe clothing, climbed down a ladder that had been left here during reconstruction work some time ago. His name was Malik; a member of the same Assassin's Creed that Altair was part of.

If there was one thing he had discovered very well about having only one arm, however, it was trying to climb with it. His other arm had been amputated after being severely bloodied during a fight here just over a month ago now. That had happened when Malik, his brother and Altair had come here to search for a treasure piece but had run into Robert de Sable at the same time. Altair, who had already broken two of the Assassin's Creeds by this point of their search, had decided to break the last and compromise the brotherhood, ending in him being thrown out of the room, thus causing the remains of the column in what had been the doorway to be nothing but a pile of rubble, and Malik and his brother being left to fight the Crusaders and Robert, resulting in Malik's brother being killed and him losing his arm. He had had a sour attitude towards Altair since then, but, recently, they had made peace with each other, though it had been a very light one.

"Owww!" Malik groaned as he climbed down the ladder, finding it difficult to do so. If there was another thing about having an amputated arm, the socket where it had been would be quite painful.

Luckily, though, the floor was only a few feet below him and, deciding he was not going to suffer any more of this wretched pain from his arm socket, he released his grip on the ladder and fell to the floor, his boots thudding loudly as they hit the stone. He turned and looked around the interior of the room. What he had come back here for was to search for anything that might have been left behind when his brother's body would have been taken away from the temple.

It was then his eyes rested on a small table near the doorway where the remains of the column and stone were. It was only a small wooden one, but it was what was on it that drew Malik's curiousness. It was a small book, too small to be an informational guide or a drawing book. What was it doing here anyway?

He walked over to the table, seeing that it looked to be quite new as it was not broken or the covers looked like they had been bent from handling or whatever, though it was covered in a lot of dust as it had been left here for a while, and, after blowing off the dust, used his hand to open it. The first page had written on it: _The journal of Robert de Sable_

Malik 'hmmed', his curiousness overtaking his mind, urging him to read on. He turned the next page and read what was on it. Here, he felt a little surprised and a sense of determination from his brain made him want to go on, which he did.

As he read, you could tell he was getting shocked at what he was reading because his eyes were growing wide, followed occasionally by slight gasps and/or whispers of "My God!" He could not believe what he was reading, and this was from Robert de Sable's diary! This was absolutely shocking at what his eyes were seeing in this book. No, something had to be wrong!

It was when he was near the end of the book that he read something that made his eyes grow wide to the point of where they looked like they would burst. It shocked him so much, he stepped back a few paces from the table as if he was afraid the book would suddenly attack him. His mind went blank with disbelief, unable to comprehend what it had just seen.

It was then he realised something.

"Altair!" he muttered under his breath, suddenly realising something. His friend was in danger.

Running as fast as his legs would carry him; he rushed back over to the ladder and climbed it as quickly as he could. He had to get to Masyaf and send a message to his friend and fast before it was too late.


	4. Corona

**Several weeks later**

Corona. An island kingdom with It's own autonomy from the states of Italy such as Venice and Milan, two that are constantly at war with one another. Having been founded on a habitable island chain off the Italian coast, the smaller settlement had grown from a tiny village into a sprawling kingdom of several thousand people with It's own barracks, port, navy, famous libraries and such and a huge stone bridge that led to the mainland. At the centre of the kingdom, standing high above the town, was a tall castle where the king and queen had lived by themselves until two new arrivals had joined them. Their long lost princess Rapunzel and her lover Eugene Fitzherbert.

It had been a special time for when Rapunzel had returned back home to the castle kingdom after having been kidnapped shortly after birth by Gothel, a wicked old woman who had wanted to use Rapunzel's hair, as it contained special healing powers passed on from her mother to her, who had gained them after drinking a potion with a magic flower in it, to keep herself young. For eighteen years, she was kept in a tower somewhere in the forest and hidden from the world, Gothel, who passed herself as her mother, telling Rapunzel it was full of bad people who would only use her for her hair.

It was only then on the day before her eighteenth birthday that she met someone from the outside world. A thief named Eugene Fitzherbert, or Flynn Rider as he preferred to be called. He had come here to hide with a satchel crown he had stolen and she had promised to give it back if he took her to the floating lanterns at the kingdom, which were released every year on her birthday to mark her kidnapping. Reluctantly, he had agreed to help, but as the two went on their journey to the kingdom, they began to develop feelings for one another. It was not until after Gothel had managed to find them and bring Rapunzel back to the tower that Rapunzel had learned she was the lost princess of the kingdom. Eugene had come back to free her and had almost died in doing so, but had cut her blonde hair, which had been left to grow very long so it would not lose It's power as it did when it was cut, so as to no longer make her a prisoner of Gothel, who had fallen out of the tower window and turned to dust. Rapunzel had then healed Eugene and he had taken her back to the kingdom where she was reunited with her parents, the lost princess having finally come home.

That had been about ten months ago last August, and four months on from their Valentine's Day romance out on the lake, **(A link to my other Tangled story)**, and they were still madly in love. They were like a couple now and nothing would separate them.

Right now on a perfect and warm June morning, Rapunzel, a young woman with bright green eyes, short brown hair in a messy crop on her head and was dressed in a kind of dark pinkish dress, was in one of the town's courtyards, playing a game of hide and seek with several of the young girls. At the moment she was it and she had a blindfold around her eyes. The other girls were hiding near the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, trying to laugh quietly as they watched Rapunzel stumble around, her arms out in front of her like some kind of unwrapped mummy as she tried to find them.

"I'll find you girls," she said as she began to move towards the fountain. She other four girls giggled and began to move back as quietly, and carefully so as not to fall into the fountain, as they could. Rapunzel could hear them and she used her ears as her eyes to find one of the girls.

"I can hear you," she warned, a smile forming on her lips, enjoying this game. "I have a feeling I'll catch one of you pretty soon,"

The other girls began to split in two groups, one moving slightly away from the fountain and the other around the side of it, trying to surprise her. Unfortunately, it did not work as Rapunzel, without any warning, suddenly spun round and grabbed the girl, a short eight year old with black hair and blue eyes and dressed in a kind of cream coloured dress, behind her on the shoulders. They all laughed as Rapunzel lifted up her blindfold.

"Found you," she giggled and began to undo her blindfold.

Nearby on one of the streets, leaning against a house, a young man was watching the girls have fun. He was about twenty six and had short brown hair and a small beard and light brown eyes. He was dressed in dark cream coloured trousers and a white top with brown boots. His name was Eugene Fitzherbert, Rapunzel's saviour and lover. He was the one who had brought her back to the kingdom and reunited her with her parents. From that, he had finally turned his character around and no longer became a thief that he had been for so long. Though it still did leave a mark on his character, the kingdom was grateful to him for returning their princess after so long of her not being here.

As he leant against the side of the house, he stared love drunk at her. She truly was a beautiful woman, and not only beautiful but kind, caring, fun and a real joy to be around. She was always making someone laugh or smile and it was really hard not to adore her as a loving princess of the kingdom. Her kindness had gone further than ever when, after realising that she could heal people, she had given some of her tears to the hospital in the kingdom, allowing them to cure anyone with an illness by simply putting a tiny drop of one of her tears, which were kept in glass vials, in the mouth of a sick person and they would be healed. They had even tried it on the recent new-borns and it had proved successful in preventing them from getting ill. It was official. She was really helping the kingdom she loved so much and everyone truly loved her for it. Though the only ones who stood out among the entire town in loving her were Eugene, her parents and…

A loud squeak on Eugene's shoulder made him look down to see a pair of eyes staring back up at him. A dark green outline was visible on his jacket. Then, it began to turn light green and took the form of a small chameleon. And of course, Pascal, Rapunzel's only friend for most of her time in the tower and a tough one as well.

"Hey Pascal," Eugene greeted him, who replied with a squeak, before looking back at Rapunzel and watching her as she and other girls, who she had by the hands, were quietly sneaking around the black haired girl with the blindfold. Pascal gave a kind of light purr, which made Eugene look at him questionably. "What?" he asked and Pascal responded by using his finger to point at his eyes and then pointed at Eugene and then at Rapunzel and then made a heart shape using his fingers, all with a slight smile on his face. Altogether, it meant to say: _You're staring lovingly at her!_

"No, I'm not!" Eugene replied quickly, going a little red and Pascal rolled his eyes as if to say: _Sure you're not._ Eugene shot him an annoyed look. He hated it when Pascal teased him.

"Hey, Eugene," Rapunzel called and he and Pascal looked over at her. The black haired girl had caught her and had asked Rapunzel if Eugene could join in. The group stared at him, Rapunzel holding up the blindfold. "Come on, come join us," she offered.

Eugene looked at Pascal, who raised an eyebrow with a smile as if to say: _Well go on, lover boy_. Eugene shot him another annoyed look but decided to agree.

"Alright," he replied walking over to them.

As he tied on blindfold and tried to search his way around the courtyard, Rapunzel, who had taken Pascal to make sure he was not going to help in any way, and the girls giggled as they crept around him, trying to make sure he did not catch them. A few bystanders began to notice the game and began to giggle along with them as they watched Eugene fail at trying to catch one of the girls, almost falling over.

Watching this game from a nearby street was a tall man with green eyes, a small trimmed moustache and short brown hair that was barely visible under his gold helmet. He had a kind of gold coloured armour on around his torso and red armour sleeves and legs with boots on his feet. His helmet was a kind of point at the top, signalling he was a high rank in the Corona guard army they had here in the kingdom. In fact he was the captain of it. He leant against the side of small tavern building, just a few feet in front of the door, his green eyes staring with dislike at Eugene, watching him enjoying himself with the girls in the courtyard.

If there was one thing he did not like about the princess being brought back, it was that she had brought back that _villain _with her. Eugene had been a nuisance to the kingdom many times long before the princess had returned; stealing from within it or from people it had good relations with, giving those around Corona a sign that it could do nothing against a simple common thief. To add to that, it had been the captain who had promised to bring Eugene in and have him hanged. Now, however, he was no longer able to do that and that was something he really did not like at all and that angered him deeply, and it only increased more when he had learned that Eugene and Rapunzel, though they did not know who she was at the time, had been spotted in an old mine tunnel by several of his soldiers. They had managed to corner them until they escaped and disappeared somewhere in the canyon the mine had been built in.

"Everything alright, captain?" a voice asked.

The captain looked over his shoulder to see a younger soldier with blue eyes and blonde hair and dressed in the same armour as him, though his helmet had a flat top to it, walking over to him.

"Oh, no not really, soldier," the captain replied lowly, staring back at Eugene, his arms folded and clutching his arms tightly as if trying to break them. The soldier, from looking at his captain towards Eugene, immediately knew what was wrong with him.

"Sir, if I may, he is not a bad person anymore," he said.

The captain smirked. "'Not a bad person', he says," he muttered shaking his head in disbelief. "Idiot!" he growled. "I never have liked that Rider!" he hissed.

The soldier sighed and watched as Eugene almost fell over and struggled to desperately keep his balance. Then, with a loud splash, he fell into the fountain. Rapunzel and the girls rushed over to see if he was okay. Thankfully, he rose up and lifted his blindfold, water running down his face and said he was okay. The soldier chuckled.

"Well, he's doing a good job in cheering up Rapunzel," he said.

"And he would do the same for me if he smacked his head on the bottom of the fountain," the captain muttered, watching with dislike as Rapunzel helped the now soaking wet Eugene out of the fountain.  
>The captain sighed. "Alright, back to the barracks, soldier," he ordered.<p>

The soldier clunked his heels together and saluted with a: "Yes sir," and turned and walked back up the street towards the castle. The captain went to follow but could not help halting and looking over his shoulder at Eugene, glaring with anger and pure hatred at him.

"One day, I'll get you for what you've done, Rider," he growled under his breath and walked up the street towards the castle.


	5. Arrival

**The next day**

A bright new day had dawned for the kingdom of Corona. A completely blue sky with a bright shining sun had greeted the people as they work up in the morning. The clear water of the seat that surrounded the island kingdom glittered as the sunlight hit it and a gentle breeze blew over the water and through the air. It was another perfect summer day for Corona as this was only the start of the season, there was sure to be many more like it.

On one of the many window ledges that lined the castle, the king of Corona, a tall man with a small beard and moustache and dresses in robes and a large purple kind of coat with a pair of boots on his feet, stood anxiously, leaning on the stone barrier that went around the window ledge, staring down at the landscape of Corona deep in thoughts of worry. It was like he was God staring down at his creation at the time of when he realised he had to start again and he had to assign Noah to build the ark, only this time, rather than with the thought of disappointment and the realisation of having to virtually wipe out mankind, the king was filled with fear, possibly even paralysed by it, though you would have to give him credit he was hiding it very well, and he was trying to find a way of keeping his people safe.

"Dear, are you okay?"

The king looked over his shoulder to see his queen, a pretty woman with brown hair, green eyes and dressed in a kind of dark pink dress that covered her black slip on shoes, walk out of their room onto the window-ledge, worry lingering in her eyes for her husband.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, dear," he replied, heaving a heavy sigh and looking back down at the town of Corona below. "I'm just a… A little concerned at the moment,"

"About what?" the queen asked, walking up next to him and staring at him, waiting for an answer.

The king sighed again, rubbing a hand hard down his face, and turned his head to look into his wife's green eyes with his brown eyes.

"Well," he began, pausing for a moment in trying to explain this to her. "Do you remember when Richard the First of England, several years ago now, had been selling his forts and ships and even parts of English territory for money to buy weapons?" he asked her and she nodded. She remembered the negotiations between her husband and Richard very well. She found him to be quite a fearful and overly ambitious person because of why he had come to Corona to sell several ships to them, thus making up part of their navy they had now. "Well," he continued, a sense of guilt easily noticeable in his voice. "When I had given him some of the best weapons and armoured technology we had, I thought that would be the end of it. And plus, we had needed the money then for the drop in our funds. But now, a few days ago, I received word that Richard has not done very well as he had hoped in the Holy Lands and some of his men are returning home and are having to stop in _other kingdoms_ to rest along the way," he finished, putting a voice of dislike on the words 'other kingdoms'.

The queen nodded slightly, taking in what her husband had said to her as he looked back down at the city below again. She had found Richard when he had come here to be completely over confident and very, very dedicated, perhaps _too_ dedicated. As her husband had explained, he had hoped to sell them a few ships in exchange for some of the latest armour hardware and for weapons for his Third Crusade in the Holy Lands against Saladin and the Muslims. Although the king did not like the deal himself as he had no problem with Islamic faith in Corona, rather the Muslims alongside the mostly Christian settlement, got on very well with each other, he needed the money because at the time two years ago, Venice and the Holy Roman Empire had joined forces against a rebellious duke in Sicily and all of the ships that would be usually selling trade from the Holy Roman Empire and from Venice were needed elsewhere. This almost crippled the Coronan economy and made living conditions drop to their lowest in a number of decades. Richard had offered them a bountiful amount of money that would see them through the bad spell, as the war in Italy was drawing to an inconclusive close, though it would not exactly get them out, and it seemed the right thing to do despite the fact that the king was going to be lending another king weapons used to kill people. It was something he did not like doing at all, but then again, any leader, after having to watch his people starve and live on pittance, would have done the same thing in order to save them.

However, they were coming back now, at least some of them were, but that was bad enough. Crusaders returning were not really a good sight. Although his history on the First Crusade was quite hazy, he knew that the first Crusaders had stolen and often looted on their way to the Middle East to take Jerusalem and, even though it was not as high as it was then, it still happened now with those returning home. What was worse, one group of Crusaders was returning along the Italian coast and they would have to stop at a kingdom to rest, and there was no doubt in the king's mind that Corona would be one of them.

"I fear for my people, my love," he said, turning his head to look at her. "Who's to say they will not loot and steal and cause havoc here, especially when _we_had given them the armaments!"

"Honey, don't worry," the queen reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small but very reassuring smile. "We'll be fine. I know Crusaders don't tend to return in large numbers and plus, we have our guards here to make sure they don't cause havoc. Look, don't worry. We'll be alright,"

His uncertain look remained on his face for a moment longer before he gave into his wife's reassurance and gave a small smile.

"I wish I had your faith," he said to her admiringly.

"You do," she replied matter-of-factly. "You just have to find it and not lose it,"

The king nodded slightly and the two monarchs looked back down at the town below, watching as it slowly dragged itself awake from the night to get on with It's daily affairs.

**Meanwhile, at the bridge **

If there was one thing about guard duty, it was that it was boring as Hell. All you did was stand around in the same place, sometimes doing completely pointless marches from one place to another, and you had to be there for a certain length of time every day. Though, there were the upsides to it, especially on the bridge that led from the Italian mainland to the island kingdom. You could talk to the traders and newcomers or people leaving, adding at least some amusement to this job in hearing what you and them had to say to one another, or to the guards, though it was not as much fun if you were seen doing so by a superior captain or officer who would want you to act as if you were enjoying your duty, though it was likely that he would not enjoy it himself if he was given the task, or if you were the only guard on duty at that point.

At the moment, the current guard on the bridge was feeling this way. He was only about nineteen with a tall thin body with blonde hair, blue eyes and a mind that clearly showed it was bored through the emotionless look on his face and that he was sitting on the wall that ran along the side of the top of the bridge with his fist curled up and his head resting on it, looking ahead with complete dullness as if he was almost bored to tears.

_Please something happen! _he mentally begged. _Please so I can actually do something!_

Just then, as if answering his pleas, the sounds of hooves clopping along a paved path filled his ears and he looked right towards the mainland to see a large black horse walking towards him. Sitting on the back of the horse was a man dressed in a kind of white robe that covered his body, though he had some kind of white rag clothing underneath it and he had brown boots on his feet. A white hood covered his head and he appeared to be looking down at the horse as if not wanting to be noticed. A hint of concern did fill the guard as he stood up, his hand moving towards his sword just in case this man suddenly attacked him, even though he did not look like someone who would. For all he knew, this man could be another Christian monk or an Islamic scholar, though mostly the first guess as Muslims in this part of Europe were really rare with the current Crusade going on in the Holy Lands at the moment. However, if he was, then where was his Bible or his Qur'an or whatever book it was?

Nevertheless, the guard, taking his duty into mind, stepped forward and held up a hand to the horse as it approached.

"Hold, traveller!" the guard said in a commanding-like voice to make sure the man knew he was in control at the moment.

The man pulled back on the horses' reins and looked down at the guard with his piercing eagle-like eyes.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked the guard with displeasure.

"What is your business here?" the guard asked.

"I'm here to see a friend of mine," the man replied tonelessly. He could not really tell the guard what he was here for or he would be chased away. His eyes looked down at the guard's hand nearest his sword. Even though the guard had slower reactions and weaker skill with a blade than himself, starting a killing spree of the guards now would not be a wise thing. "He's a carpenter here," he added.

The guard 'hmmed' slightly but moved his hand from his sword. The man's excuse did seem quite quick, but he could not prove he was lying. He would just have to hope he was not going to cause trouble in the city.

"Right, well, you'll have to leave your horse with me," the guard said. "I'll take him to the stables," he added, pointing to a small wooden building next to a small embankment. It had a wooden door on the side facing the main path that led from the bridge into the city and several pen doors along the other side, which faced the building a little further down from it, which led out into a small fenced off pasture with a small drinking crate for the horses in it. "I'll give him back to you when you leave," the guard added.

The man gave a slight sigh of annoyance, but he was in another kingdom and he had to follow their rules and not his, less he wanted a repeat of what happened last time.

"Very well," he said and he got off his horse and handed the reins to the guard and walked off past him without another word. The guard watched him go questionably and filled with concern.

_I don't like the look of him _he thought with unease.

Altair walked down the path from the bridge, past the stable and into the town of Corona. Very quickly, he became lost in the busy streets of the town. People were entering and exiting houses and taverns and shops or calling to people to come look at what they had for sale on their stalls, mostly comprising of fish or fruit or bread or pottery and such, children played games of tag or hide and seek in the alleyways or in the street, friends chatted to one another. Everywhere you looked something was going on.

"Now where are you, Salad?" Altair muttered to himself as he walked down the street, looking at the buildings he passed to try and find the house, and workplace, of his friend.

It was definitely a lot more difficult than he thought it would be, but he had dealt with situations like this many times before. He would not be able to ask for directions in case he drew unwanted attention to himself and risk comprising the brotherhood and breaking one of the three creeds they stood by. He would just have to keep searching the town until he found it himself, though it was going to take a while and while he had been taught that patience was a virtue, he just wanted to get on with this mission so he could find and deal with Robert's lieutenant and find this tenth Templar.

As he walked on towards a courtyard, the sound of children laughing filled his ears and he looked ahead to see a group of young girls sitting along the side of the fountain with a taller girl of about eighteen with dark brown hair, green eyes and dressed in a dark pinkish kind of dress. At the moment, she was sitting behind one of the smaller girls, fiddling about with her hair and trying to put it in a kind of ponytail, the other girls smiled and watched intently as she did so, waiting for their turn. Just ordinary life to Altair and he drew his eyes away to continue his search.

However, even here it proved to be a difficult task. All the buildings around the courtyard seemed to be either shops or houses. Everywhere he looked, he could not find anything that looked to be a promising shop of a carpenter. Frustration began to fill him like water filling up a tank. It was starting to get to him that he would not find Salad's carpentry, but it was that thought that made him more determined, but also more stressed out, to find him.

As he walked around the courtyard though, he did draw the attention of Rapunzel as she looked up to see him wandering about as if he was lost. To her, this newcomer was probably another Christian monk or an Islamic scholar or someone like that. They had had a few of them here before to preach in the local church or the nearby mosque. Maybe they were what he was looking for.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, girls," Rapunzel said, getting up and walking over to the man as he turned away from another house.

Altair gritted his teeth together and clenched his fist tightly, it shaking with annoyance. It was starting to get to him now that he was not finding Salad's carpentry. Where the Hell was it?

"Uh…excuse me, sir?" a woman's voice asked and he looked up to see the young woman with brown hair approach him, her large green eyes staring into his sharp, eagle-like eyes. Altair released his clenched fist and cleared his throat.

"Yes?" he asked in a friendly manner.

"Um…sorry, but are you lost?" Rapunzel asked helpfully, searching his body for any sign of a kind of book, but found nothing, which only heightened her suspicion of him, adding to that he was wearing a different kind of clothes she had seen on monks and scholars in the past. "I mean, if you're looking for the church or the mosque…" she pointed down one of the nearby paths that led away from the courtyard. "They're over in that di-"

"No, no, I'm not looking for a holy building," Altair cut her off, causing her to lower her hand. He sighed, hating himself for doing this, but he was going to have to ask her where Salad lived and hoped for the best. "I'm looking for a carpenter," he told her. "By the name of Salad-al-hunim," he added.

"Oh, Salad?" Rapunzel repeated and Altair nodded. "Um, his carpentry's right there," she pointed down the same path in the direction of the church and the mosque, but at a small brick building with a small door on the front. A tiny movable, but closed slot hole was visible on the front of it near the top of the door.

"Oh, um…thank you," he replied and, quickly, he walked off towards the carpentry.

"Hang on I don't think he's in, though," she pointed out to him.

"I'll just make sure if he is or not," he replied, not looking back at her, walking on towards the building.

"Oh…um, okay," Rapunzel watched him walk up the building with a confused look on her face. Who was he? More importantly: what did he want with Salad? How did he even know he was in? There was something strange about him, though exactly what she did not know.

Deciding it was best to put it out of her mind, though it was hard to do so, she walked back over to the girls, though she could not help but looked back at the man several times, even when she re-joined them. There was definitely something strange about him, something very strange ind-

"Ow!" the girl who's hair Rapunzel was doing suddenly gasped, startling her.

"Oh, sorry," Rapunzel apologized and she resumed doing the girl's hair, trying to keep her mind set on it.

Nearby, down the street, Altair approached the door and knocked on it slightly. No response came back for a moment. Maybe the girl was right and he was not in. He was probably at the mosque praying. At least, thanks to the girl again, he knew where Salad would be if he was praying at the mo-

Suddenly, the slot on the top of the door half-opened and a pair of brown eyes just below the bottom of a kind of hood peered out at Altair.

"Who is it?" a voice rasped.

"Is that Salad?" Altair asked.

"Yes. Look, if you want a carpet, you'll have to come back later when I open,"

The slot went to close, but Altair stopped it. "No, no, Salad! It's Altair!"

The man stopped the slot just millimetres from closing completely. For a moment, it stayed where it was as if frozen. Then, slowly, it opened up and the brown eyes stared back out at Altair.

"Altair," the man said, aghast. "Wait there,"

The slot closed and the sound of unlocking noises came from the other side. Altair watched as the door slowly creaked open to reveal a short elderly man of about sixty two with a big white beard, brown eyes and was dressed in a kind of dark blue robe with a white hood over his head. He stared a little wide-eyed at Altair as if he was some kind of long lost relative that had returned.

"It's good to see you, Altair," he said. He looked up and down the street as if nervous that they were being watched. "Come, come in, quickly!" he urged.

Altair quickly stepped inside, but just as Salad went to close the door, a tall man dressed in a kind of cream coloured top and shorts and a pair of old brown shoes on his feet, suddenly, rushed over and pushed a hand on the door, stopping Salad from closing it.

"Ah, Salad, I didn't realise you were open!" he exclaimed.

"No, sorry, Frank! I-I'm closed!" he replied, trying to shut the door but the man would not budge.

"Wait if you're closed, then why are you letting _him _in?" he asked.

"He's a relative visiting me. Now, please, will you go!" Salad gave the door one forceful push and it slammed shut, almost hitting the man in the face. The man listened to the sounds of locking erupt from inside.

"What is with him?" he muttered to himself as he walked off, annoyed at what had just happened.


	6. What you will have to do

Salad's carpentry was not that much different from the bureaus Altair had stayed in when he had gone to Damascus, Jerusalem or Acre. It had a kind of wooden counter along the back wall with shelves behind it and a door in the middle of the back wall, possibly leading upstairs as Altair had seen another floor above this one. Several rolls of carpet hung along the left wall, each comprising of different colours such as red or green but many of them had Arabic words on them. One kind of cream coloured carpet, which hung fully unravelled from a peg near the top of the wall, had a sewn out silver fabric coloured cross in the middle of a white space that was in the middle of the cream coloured area of the blanket. Another door leading into a smaller room was on the right wall. A wooden table was placed in the middle of the room with a small cup of water place on it. A book lay next to it and a small chandelier-like object hung from the ceiling with several burning candles on it, giving the room a dimly lit glow.

"Al Mualim told me you would be arriving," Salad said to Altair as he walked past him away from the door. "Come, sit down,"

Altair thanked him and walked over to the table and sat down in front of it, crossing his legs. Salad walked behind the counter and took out a small jug from underneath it and another cup and walked back over to the table and poured one for Altair.

"Here, you might need this," he offered, holding out the cup to Altair, who took it.

"Thank you," he replied and drank it. The water felt good as it slid down his throat. His own canister of water was almost empty and he had nearly run out of money to buy another. Salad had just saved him the trouble of doing so.

As he set it down, Salad closed his book and put it under the table. "Al Mualim sent an eagle message, telling me that you killed Robert de Sable," he said and Altair nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "Now, however, I've come here looking for his lieutenant who knows where this tenth Templar is,"

"Well, that will not be easy, Altair," Salad told him, taking a sip from his cup of water. "I do not know exactly who this lieutenant of Robert is, but I know he is someone of high valour in Corona,"

"Of high valour?"

Salad nodded. "Yes. As I said, I do not know exactly who he is, but I think I have something that may lead us to who he is,"

Altair leaned in a little towards Salad, intrigued by what he was telling him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well," Salad began. "Several days ago, just before you arrived, two men in Crusader uniforms arrived here in the city to speak with the king, most likely on that they were wishing to reside in the kingdom on their journey back to their homes,"

Altair nodded. "I did hear about Richard's men being dismissed," he said.

Salad nodded. "Anyway," he continued. "When they left later that day, I was coming back from the mosque, and as I used to be a part of the Creed, I managed to overhear them talking next to a shop. They said that the lieutenant of Robert has promised them something very great if they did not take a reprisal against him or the kingdom in return. What exactly, I do not know, but…" he trailed off and looked around for a moment as if thinking someone had sneaked in here and was listening to their conversation. Then, he leaned in close to Altair and lowered his voice until it was almost a whisper. "…I think we could be dealing with the king himself here,"

Altair went a little wide-eyed. Now that was shocking. Sure he had dealt with rich people before. I mean, look at that rich merchant he had dealt with in Jerusalem or the many leaders of groups or hospitals like the one in Acre. But…but never did he think it was actually a king he would have to go up against. Not that it would be any harder, or at least he hoped it would not, but it was just really shocking though. This was literally a first time for him to probably having to end up killing a king if he was Robert's lieutenant.

"The king," he repeated to himself as Salad leant back away from him, nodding at his reply.

"Yes," he said. "Though, I have said to you, I _think _this could be the king we're dealing with, I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it could be,"

Altair paused for a moment, lost in thought as he took in what had just been explained to him, before looking up at Salad.

"Then we must deal with him quickly," he said, rising to his feet. Salad, however, got his feet as well and put a hand on Altair's shoulder.

"No, Altair, you stay here for today," he said. "You've had a long journey and you need to rest,"

"No!" Altair insisted, looking into Salad's brown eyes. "Look, we are near the end of our task to stop this Templar threat. We cannot waste any time!"

"Altair, no!" Salad told him sternly. "You need to rest and you _will_! Remember what Al Mualim said to you: A mind that has rested well-"

"-Will be ready for It's task," Altair finished the sentence, nodding. "I know. I remember Al Mualim saying that to me many times when I joined the Creed,"

"And so you will hear it once again," Salad told him. "Now, go into that room and get some rest. Try and stay there for today and begin your task tomorrow. Besides, you never know if anyone who might have seen you today will have become suspicious about your presence here,"

Altair nodded in agreement. That was true what Salad was telling him. The guard that had taken his horse from him when he arrived did look suspicious about him when he arrived earlier. Yes, maybe it was best if he stayed here for the day. Hopefully, by tomorrow, the people here would have just dismissed him as another monk or scholar and forget about him.

"Alright, I shall go rest," he said to Salad.

"Good," he replied and Altair walked over towards the next room, but stopped.

"Wait, just before I go in there, I need to ask you something, Salad," he said, turning to face him.

"Ask it then," Salad replied.

"Al Mualim has said that there is a kind of healing incarnation here in the city that makes it healthy and prosperous from plague," he explained. "Do you know of anyone who could have given this?" he asked hopefully.

Salad shrugged. "I do not know I'm afraid, Altair," he answered a little guiltily. "I know of this healing incarnation, but all I know is that someone here had given it to the hospital, but…that's it I'm afraid."

Altair looked down at the floor, nodding a little. "Right," he said. "Well, thank you, brother," he added and walked into the next room.

The room was rectangular shaped and much smaller than the main room. A single bed was placed against the side wall opposite the door. The walls were bare bricks that were a light orange kind of colour and a small window was on the right wall at the other end of the room near the top of it just below the ceiling, allowing a single flow of daylight to flood into the room. A small wooden desk was placed next to the bed on the wall across from it and on it was a small burnt out candle. On the floor at the end of the room were several small carpets rolled up around a single rug and on the wall at the end was a kind of Quranic recitation.

Altair walked to the rug and sat down, crossing his legs and moving so he was facing the Quranic recitation on the wall and closed his eyes and began to meditate.

For now he would rest and clear his mind to prepare for the searching of Robert's lieutenant.


	7. The search begins

**The next day**

Within the small rectangular room of Salad's carpentry, Altair checked his belt, sword and the hidden blade on the device on his wrist. All were working and were there. He was ready to begin his search of Corona for Robert's lieutenant and he had to make sure all his weapons were prepped in case he ran into trouble.

As he stepped out of the room, he saw Salad, who was wearing the same dark blue robes and white hood he had been wearing yesterday, kneeling down barefooted on a dark green prayer rug that was facing southeast. Within Islamic tradition, when one prays, the rug must face Mecca where their prophet had firmly overwhelmed those who tried to destroy Islam in It's earliest days and firmly established it there. He was just about to begin when Altair stepped into the room and he turned to look at his friend.

"I'm ready to begin my task, Salad," Altair said to him.

Salad nodded. "Very well, Altair," he replied. "And remember, if you get into trouble, I shall be here for you to hide you,"

"Thank you, Salad," Altair walked over to the door and began to unlock it.

"Just remember that you must be alone and not be followed when you come here," he added.

"I will," Altair replied, opening the door and looking over his shoulder at Salad. "I shall see you later,"

Salad nodded again. "Good luck, brother. Rid our world of this evil,"

Altair nodded and walked outside, closing the door behind him. The sunlight from the mostly blue sky greeted him, blinding him slightly but he quickly got used to it after raising an arm in front of his eyes. Around him, people were going about their daily activities. Some shopping, others talking to friends or relatives or working in putting up market stalls and opening their shops for the day.

Altair walked back down the path towards the courtyard where he had been pointed in the right direction to Salad's carpentry by that young brown haired woman. When he reached the courtyard, he saw the four young girls playing a game of hopscotch on the pavement near the fountain, but the young brown haired woman was not with them today. Shrugging her whereabouts aside, he turned his head so his eyes searched every bit of the courtyard, taking in the scenery of the market stalls being set up and people walking from one place to another, either alone or with their families or their lovers. He had been right about one thing Salad had told him yesterday. Corona _was_ a peaceful city and, quite frankly, he was enjoying the scenery here. If only Masyaf was like this, then it would be a great place to live.

Snapping back into reality, remembering what he was here for, he walked towards another path that led off into a street towards the castle far off that towered over the kingdom. He walked across the courtyard towards the street, unknowingly drawing the attention of three of the girls who were standing next to the fountain, watching their fourth friend play on the chalk drawn numbered squares on the ground.

"Isn't that the guy princess Rapunzel talked to yesterday?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," another replied. "Wonder where he's going?"

They watched as he walked down the path that led out of the courtyard and down the path. Ahead of him was another courtyard, which was slightly bigger than the one he had just left and there was no fountain in the middle of it and there were two large stone walls on the far end of the courtyard with something colourful on both of them. Hit by a slight sense of curiousness, Altair walked down towards the courtyard. As he went, he passed two men standing next to the entrance to a gift shop.

"Hey, haven't you heard?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, soldiers arrived in the city last night," the other replied.

Upon hearing this, Altair stopped where he was, suddenly taken by the conversation between these two men. However, he knew that he would attract too much attention if he stood where he was and tried to listen. He looked to his left and was saved by a small empty wooden bench next to the building on the other side of the entrance to the gift shop. Quickly, he walked over to it and sat down on it, resting his head against the stone wall and acting as if he was having a rest, though he kept his ears open, listening on to the conversation between the two men.

"How many of them were there?" the second man asked.

"About…sixty," the first man shrugged. "Or seventy, something like that,"

"What are they doing here anyway?"

"Apparently, stopping off for a rest in the city, but I think they might want to try and get back at the king. D'you remember? He sold 'em weapons for their battle in the Middle East,"

The second man shook his head. "Pointless conflict, if you ask me," he commented. "Anyway, I better go. Gotta open my stall in the market later on,"

"Alright, see you,"

The two men walked off, one going back towards the first courtyard and the other walking into the gift shop. Altair got up from the seat and, quickly glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he walked on down the path towards the next courtyard, his mind replaying what he had just heard in the conversation between these two men. So these Crusader soldiers that had been dismissed from the Holy Lands had finally arrived. It was going to be a bit hampering to his mission because it meant more soldiers would be in the city, but…it could also be a blessing in disguise. Salad had told him that two of these men had arrived in the city before and had been talking with Robert's lieutenant. Maybe if he could find them, he could get them to talk, at knife, or sword, point obviously.

Altair had reached the courtyard and immediately saw it was much more spacious than the last one. As well as there not being any fountain or something in the middle of the courtyard, there were only a few market stalls set up around the edges of it and in the middle of the courtyard, kind of engraved into the ground, was a large replica of the sun, but with the flame-like parts coming off it, reminding him of how a young child would see the sun. What stuck him the most, however, was that on the large white walls on the other side of the courtyard were large paintings of people, both of who had a few couples around them, talking admiringly about them. Curiosity filling him once again, he walked over to the stone walls.

Even though he himself was not really a man of art, he had to admit he was amazed by them. One of them, the one on his left, held a portrait of the king, the queen and in in the queen's arms was a young baby girl with shining blonde hair, large green eyes and was dressed in a kind of large purple-like coloured top that almost went down to her knees. On her head was a small satchel crown, obviously signalling she was the princess. As he looked at the baby girl, he could not help but think he had seen her somewhere before, but…but it was hard to point out, but she definitely did look like someone he had seen before.

"The princess is lovely, isn't she?" a young woman with her lover commented, drawing Altair to the next portrait.

This one had only two people on it, one of whom he recognized instantly. The young woman who had pointed him in the right direction to Salad's carpentry was on the wall. Next to her was a younger man of around Altair's age with short brown hair and a small beard and light brown eyes and was dressed in dark cream coloured trousers and a white top with brown boots. Actually, it was upon seeing him, Altair did recognize him as well.

"The wanted posters," he muttered to himself.

On the way here, he had seen several wanted posters attached to trees and the walls of buildings. By the look of it now, though, the man, who he had seen the name Flynn Rider, had probably changed his ways if he was to be here with the princess. Though, they must have gotten something wrong with him in this painting because he was certain he remembered his nose being _huge _in the wanted posters.

"Good li'le town, innit?" he heard a voice say loudly, causing him to look over his shoulder at the entrance to the courtyard he had come through and go a little wide-eyed.

Two soldiers in white armoured uniforms walked into the town. One of them had a completely bald head and had a hand gripped on the end of his sword, which was put away at the moment. The other had short brown hair and was looking round in a kind of admiringly, but in no way friendly, at the surrounding buildings. Crusaders!

"Oh no!" Altair muttered to himself.

There was a chance they would see him and probably suspect him. He would have to find somewhere to hide or blend in quickly. Looking over at a small pub on the side of the courtyard next to a few houses, he saw another bench outside the open door where the music was blaring out from inside it. Quickly, he walked over to it and sat down, bending his head forward a little so it was looking down at the ground. This usually worked and he raised his head a little to watch the two Crusader soldiers as they stopped near the middle of the courtyard and looked at the painting. The brown haired soldier muttered something to his friend and he laughed loudly, drawing a few un-approving looks from the people in front of them near the stone walls, as well as few others around the courtyard. It was obvious that the people here in the city were not happy with these Crusaders being here. Altair could hardly blame them. With the way these two were acting so repulsively, he would not be surprised if there any tension between them and the city's guards.

"Ooooohhh!" a voice drawled from next to him. Altair looked and was shocked at what he saw.

A short old man with a large white beard and moustache was sitting next to him, groaning slightly as he wiped his forehead dry of sweat, his beer gut extending out over…his nappy? He placed a hand on it and grunted.

"Oh…and I'sss still early in the morning!" he said to himself drunkenly.

Altair could see why he was out here. He had had too much, but what surprised him was that this man was already drunk early in the morning. This place really was strange. He had never seen this before in Masyaf, probably because his home city was multi-cultural with Christians and Muslims and a few Jews and plus there was the Brotherhood that forbade pubs being in the city in case one of their soldiers got too drunk and was kidnapped or became aggressive so this type of drunken behaviour was new to him.

And, unfortunately, he was about to discover how it could affect some people.

The old man turned his head to his side, his half-closed eyes staring at Altair. "H-h-heeeyy!" he said loudly, making Altair go wide-eyed, knowing people would be looking over at them. "Y-your no' from aroun' h-(hiccup)-ere, are ya?" he asked, his voice slurring a little.

"Be quiet, old man!" Altair snapped, turning his head slightly to see the two Crusaders, along with about half the people in the courtyard, looking over at them. He saw one of the Crusaders mutter to his friend and he nodded.

"Wha'! Y-you wan' me to wha'?"

"I want you to be quiet!" Altair snapped through gritted teeth, nervousness rising through him.

"Bi' noisy, in't he?"

Altair held his breath and looked up at the two Crusader soldiers standing in front of them. The drunken old man hiccupped again and placed a hand over his mouth.

"Ex'-(hiccup)-use me!" he groaned.

Altair looked at the old man and then back up at the Crusaders and jerked his thumb at the old man. "I think he's had a bit too much," he said.

The bald headed Crusader smirked in a kind of disapproving manner. "You best keep an eye on 'im then, shouldn't ya?" he said to Altair, nodding at the old man. "'E might get 'urt being in that state,"

"Wha' y-you're gonna look af-(hiccup)-er me?" the old man slurred. He raised his hand and brought down his hand in a kind of disapproving manner. "Ah, I don' need anyone lookin' after me! I-I-I can l-look after my-ysself!"

He tried to get up but he fell off the bench and landed on his side. As painful as it looked, the alcohol running through his system numbed the pain so it did not hurt as much, but the fall combine with the over-drinking was going to give him one bad headache later on today.

The two Crusaders chuckled at him. "Idiot!" the bald headed soldier said.

The brown haired soldier looked at Altair. "So, what're you doin' 'ere?" he asked him.

"I'm…a…scholar," he answered trying to find an excuse. The soldier did not look convinced.

"Then where's ya Qur'an or your 'oly scriptures?" he asked, trying to see if he could get past this man's excuse.

"I don't have them on me. I'm here to see a friend of mine," Altair told him abruptly.

Still, the soldier did not look convinced, but he said nothing more on him. "Alrigh', but I'll be warning ya, mate. I'll be watching ya!" and with that he walked off out of the courtyard through another exit next to the pub, his friend following close behind, still chuckling to himself about the drunken old man, who lifted himself up from the pavement, groaning slightly. He grabbed hold of the bench and, through struggling and almost falling off several times, managed to pull himself back onto it and he slumped down against the back of the bench.

"Oooohh, my head!" he groaned, looking at Altair.

"If I were you, I'd go home," he said to him.

"Nah, I don' need no home!" he replied, is words slurring slightly. "I'll drink all day if I-(hiccup)-h-have to!"

Rolling his eyes, Altair got up and walked away from the drunken old man to continue his search, walking over towards the entrance out of the courtyard next to the two large stone paintings.

As he left the courtyard, two more people entered through the entrance to the courtyard next to the pub. It was Eugene and Rapunzel. On her shoulder was Pascal. They were locked in conversation about the Crusaders in the city.

"Is your dad really that worried about these Crusaders being in the city?" Eugene asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, he explained to me a while ago that before you brought me back here, the city wasn't doing too well," she replied. "And he had to sell ships and weapons to the Crusaders to help get the city back on It's feet,"

"I bet he regrets it now," Eugene commented.

"He does," Rapunzel told him. "But, none of us hold it against him. I mean, anyone else would have done the same,"

Another groan from the bench drew their attention to the old man. Eugene rolled his eyes and Rapunzel giggled at seeing him like this.

"And It's only early in the morning," Eugene muttered. "D'you wanna go on to the stables? I'll meet you there later,"

"Okay," she replied. "Have fun," she added sarcastically.

"I will," and she walked off towards the first courtyard, stopping to look over her shoulder at Eugene as he walked over to the bench and sat down next to the old man, whose half closed eyes looked up at him groggily.

"H-h-hey Eugene!" he greeted loudly.

"Hey, Frederickson," he replied. "Too much?" he inquired expectantly.

"Ah, no! No! I'm no' even star-(hiccup)-ed yet, Euegene m'boy!" he replied. "Hey, is it Rapunzel's birthday tomorrow, cause I can sing for ya if ya want. Jus' gimme a few drinks and I can pu' on a grea' singin' voice!"

Eugene rolled his eyes and looked up at Rapunzel, who met his gaze he giggled. "I'm sure you can," he muttered under his breath.

Rapunzel just sighed happily and walked on towards the courtyard.

"It's great fun with him, isn't is," she said to Pascal who nodded in reply.


	8. The chase

Altair searched and searched the streets of the city, looking into alleyways or through shop and bar windows to see who was inside but he did not see anyone who looked out of the ordinary. Then again, as he reminded himself several times over as he went that most of the people who he had gotten the information on the leaders he had been tasked to kill from, on his visits to the last few cities, including his home Masyaf, were just ordinary looking people. They were not of high standard or professional commanders or soldiers or anything like that. They were ordinary citizens you would see every day so there was no reason for it to not be the same here in Corona as well. However, he had made it this far and had done this task many times before so it should not be too hard. Then again, he did not even know why he was moaning about it, there were Crusaders here and Salad had told him that two of them had been talking to this lieutenant of Robert so them being here, probably despite the fact that they might know who he is, made his task a whole lot easier. He would just have to play along with it and hope he found or heard something useful.

As he passed another small courtyard, this one having a circular shaped, stone raised bit of ground with a flat top on it, he saw a large muscular man with a bald head and a small moustache and dressed in a kind of thick black jacket and shorts and boots playing a large piano, and very well too, despite the fact that he, which Altair was amazed at when he saw it as he walked by, that he had a large hook for one of his hands. A few people were gathered around him and were enjoying it through their smiles or one or two tapping their feet or clapping their hands in rhythm to the song the man was playing. Wow! This place was even stranger to him than he thought, but a lot more amazing as well for the type of characters here.

Snapping back into reality, he looked ahead, his eyes searching the people in the streets for anyone that might be of any use to him in his task. Within his eyes, his eagle vision kicked in and they began to search deeper than just on the outside of the people around him. They went into their eyes and read them, from women to men to guards to shops workers to the odd Crusader he would see in front of him. Each one would, to his eyes, become a kind of colour. The Crusaders were a kind of red colour when he looked at them with his eagle vision-like eyes, meaning they were enemies. The guards were a kind of mixture between blue and colourless, meaning they were either no neutral to him or possibly even friends, but there was no one who was a white/silver colour, which meant they were potential information targets and who he would need to follow or come within hearing range to gain any useful information.

It was useless. He came out of his eagle vision and went back to his normal vision and continued on down the path. He would have to try and find one of these two people the normal way by searching through the city and listening out carefully for any conversation that was of any use to him.

As he reached the entrance to another shop selling souvenirs, he saw one of the two windows, one either side of the entrance into the shop, was open slightly and next to it on the wall was a bench. Altair looked through the closed window, his eyes searching every inch of what was inside. There was nothing here either, just the counter with several shelves of pots, cutlery, wooden swords and shields and such and ordinary people browsing and managing the sho-

Wait! As his eyes reached the right side of the shop, he saw two Crusader soldiers standing near the open window, engaged in deep conversation. The noise of the outside as well as talking within the shop made it hard for him to hear them so he moved over to the other window and sat down on the bench, staying just out of sight of the window in case he drew any attention from anyone inside it, but kept his head raised slightly, his ears open and listening well like a wary antelope listening out for any predators.

"Well…when is he going to give it to ya?" one of the soldiers, a tall blonde haired and green eyes heavily built man, asked the other soldier.

"He said soon," the other, a shorter brown haired, blue eyed man, replied. "I told you, when I came here the other day with commander Geoffrey, we sent to see the lieutenant after the king and he said he'd get the incarnation to us soon. That's it,"

The blonde haired soldier sighed and rubbed his fore head with his hand. "Well…I hope It's worth it for what we've stopped here for,"

"It will be, and especially for you, just as long as you keep it quiet. We can't risk anyone knowing of the real reason why we're here,"

The blonde haired Crusader nodded. "Right. I best get back to camp,"

"Okay, I'm gonna have a little stroll around the city, get used to the sights so I know where to meet the lieutenant if he wants to meet me,"

"Right, I'll see ya back at the camp," and with that the blonde haired soldier walked out of the shop and down the path Altair had come.

The hooded assassin turned his head slightly so the corner of his eyes was just looking into the window of the shop. The brown haired Crusader was looking at a shelf of home-made pots. For a moment, Altair held his breath, thinking that the soldier was going to be a while. Then, to his relief, the soldier shook his head in disappointment, probably unimpressed by the make of the pots or that they were just not to his liking and walked out of the shop. Quickly, Altair turned his head back so it was looking down at the ground. The brown haired Crusader stepped out into the sunlight, grunting a little as the sudden bright light partially blinded him for a moment, like a vampire being exposed to sunlight, before his eyes grew used to the light. He took a deep breath and walked down the path away from the shop, heading further into the city towards the castle to do a bit of exploring.

Altair looked up and watched him go and, when he was about twenty feet away, stood up and tensed his fist so his hidden blade stuck out of the device. He was going to need it to for when he cornered this soldier. He followed him down the path, having to weave in and out of the citizens as they passed him, which was difficult because he must have entered another busy market as there were carts being pushed from place to place and people were carrying baskets of bread or fruit or were taking large crates from carts into shops. All of this made him struggle to keep pace with the Crusader. If he did not keep up, he would lose him.

As the path went into a little bend, the Crusader began to get further and further away from him, making Altair a little panicked and frustrated as he had been about to catch up to him when two men walked in front of him holding a large rectangular crate. One of them apologized as they passed, but Altair just growled in frustration and ran past him, almost knocking someone with a basket full of apples over to the ground.

"Come on, don't lose him!" he muttered to himself through gritted teeth as he almost began to sprint a little, the Crusader having almost gone out of reach of him being able to keep sight of him.

Luckily, he began to catch up to him as they entered a quiet part of the path. Only a few people were moving about here. Some were talking to friends, others sweeping the ground clear of any dust or leaves. A sense of hope began to fill Altair. He could finally corner the man and find out about this incarnation and about Robert's lieutenant! He could end this evil once and for a-

"Excuse me, kind sir!"

All of a sudden, Altair was stopped in his tracks by a woman holding a basket of fruit, or mouldy and bruised fruit to be precise. She was dressed in a kind of pink dress and had short brown hair and brown eyes. At once, the hope that had momentarily filled him left him like a wave retreating from the shore.

"Sir, could I interest you in some fruit?" she asked friendly.

"W-what! No, I'm sorry," Altair replied, trying to get past her, looking nervously past her at the Crusader, who had reached another bend in the path and was about to walk around it.

"Oh, please, sir! I haven't had a customer all day!"

_I wonder why _Altair thought. "Look, I cannot buy anything from you. Now will you please move!"

"Oh, but sir, please! J-just a grape or an apple. I-I'll let you have two for the price of one!"

"I said no! Now move!" he shoved past her and ran on down the path to the bend at the end of it, still praying that the man was there, or at least not out of sight.

Unfortunately, when Altair reached it, he found that the Crusader was gone. He was not in sight, but he could not have reached the end of this path for it was too long before anyone could reach the courtyard at the end of it where some guards were standing, talking to one another. Growling to himself, he clenched his fists tightly and shook them madly. That darn woman! She had made him lose his target! Oh, this was just perfect! Absolutely perfect!

"Now I shall have to scour the city for him!" he growled to himself, walking down the path, passing an alleyway. "If only that darn woman had not st-"

All of a sudden, he stopped where he was as if frozen and looked back at the alleyway. As he had passed, he had seen someone there, Could it be…? Gingerly, he walked back over to the alleyway and pushed his back against it and took meagre steps towards the turning into the alleyway. When he reached it, he poked his head around the corner to see that the alleyway was about twenty feet long and was between a large house on the left and probably a blacksmith or large storehouse on the right because there was a single wooden door on the right wall. At the end of the alleyway was a brick wall, but on the left wall was an empty doorway in the shape of an arch that led into a kind of courtyard. A grated window was on the wall next to the door, (the side nearest Altair).

Quietly like a cat creeping up on It's prey, Altair crept down the alleyway towards the window, being careful not to step too hard on the pebbled ground so as not to make a tapping sound and draw the attention of whoever it was he had seen in the alleyway just now. When he reached it, he slowly moved his head in front of the window and looked into the courtyard. It was large and square with a single door on the wall opposite the entrance to the courtyard. Several large circular stone bricks were placed on the wall at the right side of the courtyard and a window on the left. Above all three walled sides of the courtyard was another floor of windows, probably meaning this was some kind of courtyard to a rich person, or probably an inn.

However, standing in the middle of the courtyard was him. The brown haired Crusader was standing at the corner of the wall between the door and the wall with the circular stone brick attachments, his back to Altair. It was obvious to Altair he was urinating against it. This was a perfect chance to corner him and get him to tell Altair what he knew about Robert's lieutenant and what he planned to do with this healing incarnation.

Altair stepped through the arch doorway and into the courtyard, his hidden blade at the ready just as the man was doing up his trousers.

"Hold. Crusader!" he said in a commanding-like voice.

The Crusader froze for a moment as if suspecting he had been spotted urinating on private property by one of the guards of the city. Slowly, he turned but to his surprise, he saw it was a man in a white hood, which did ease him a little, but left him wary and made him trail his hand over the end of his sword.

"Who are you?" he demanded angrily.

"That does not matter," Altair replied intimidatingly, stepping towards him, raising his arm with the hidden blade slightly.

The Crusader stepped back a pace, a sense of fear overcoming him, but he was stopped by the wall. Nevertheless, he was determined not to be threatened by this man.

"W-what do ya want with me?" he asked Altair.

"I overheard you and your friend talking about a certain lieutenant," he replied.

"Y-you mean…Robert's lieutenant?"

"That is correct. What do you know of him?"

"Why should I tell ya?"

Altair responded to the man's question by suddenly launching himself forward in the blink of an eye and forcing himself against the wall of the building, placing his blade at his throat, stopping it literally on his skin. The man's eyes went as wide as dinner plates in fear that he would have his throat cut.

"No! Please! Don't kill me!" he begged hysterically in fear that he was about to be killed.

"Tell me what you know!" Altair demanded forcefully. "Tell me, or my blade shall be covered with your blood!"

The man gasped and breathed quickly, trying to calm himself. His blue eyes, filled with fear, stared into Altair's eagle-like eyes, seeing very clearly the killing instinct within them, which only made him more frightened. After a few seconds, though, he managed to calm himself to the point of being able to speak.

"A-alright!" he said. "T-the lieutenant is s-s-someone of high valour! Someone of high valour…" he gulped. "…In this city!"

"What is your business with him?" Altair asked threateningly, pushing him back even more against the wall of the building behind him.

"I…I!" the man stuttered. "I…he said that….that he' give us this…healing incarnation! H-he… p-promised us it if we didn't take any reprisal ag-gainst him or the city for our failure in the Holy Lands,"

Altair stared at the man, his mind taking in what he was being told. So this lieutenant was definitely someone of high valour in this city like Salad had told him, though not exactly who. Also, this man had said they had promised this healing incarnation to the Crusaders if they did not revenge against the city. What was it though?

"What is this healing incarnation you have been promised?" Altair asked.

"I…I...I dunno!" the man nervously stuttered. "He didn't tell us what it was exactly! He just said he'd give it to us when we meet him-"

"Oi, what's going on here?"

Altair looked his shoulder and went wide-eyed when he saw what he least expected and least wanted right now. Three guards were standing at the entrance to the courtyard, all staring uneasily at the scene before them. They had seen Altair enter the alleyway in a strange way from the courtyard and their curiousness had drawn them down here to see what he was up to. One of them reached for his sword, the other two following suite.

Suddenly, the Crusaders grabbed swung leg up at Altair's stomach, hitting him in the groin, the impact almost winding him and causing Altair to lower his arm in his body's reaction to the blow, and grabbed the neck of his hood and pulled his forward, raising his knee to hit him in the groin. However, Altair reacted quickly despite the pain and swung his fist at the Crusader, hitting him in the jaw and, almost simultaneously, thrust his arm with the device up at him.

The Crusader held his position for a moment, his back in a kind of half hunch, his body tensed and his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. A strangled breath came out of it as if it too were shocked by the sudden wound. Looking down slowly, he saw that Altair had thrust his arm with the wrist into his chest. Although it was hard to see, a small patch of dark red was beginning to form where his hand was. He looked back up at Altair into his eagle-like eyes and gave a light shallow breath before his body fell back to the ground with thud and did not rise again.

The guards stared at what had just happened, their mouths slightly open with shock. They…they had just seen someone get killed! This man…h-he was an assassin!

Then, as Altair looked over his shoulder, remembering they were there, the leading guard out of the three swopped out his sword, the other two doing the same.

"STOP HIM!" he yelled. "HE'S A KILLER!"

They charged towards Altair, but his instincts kicked in, not to kill, but to run. Like a lizard, he ran over to the wall with the door and ran up the side of it, quickly grabbing the bottom window ledge and pulling himself up, grabbing the top window ledge as he went. The guards skidded to a halt and, whilst one checked the pulse of the Crusader to see if he was still alive, though he was not, the other two began looking for a stone or something to throw up at Altair, who had grabbed hold of the roof and pulled himself up onto it and quickly got to his feet. All around him was a sea of wooden and tiled roofs of the city's buildings. Far off ahead of him, he could about see it, was the wooden roof of the stables. That was where his horse would be, so that was where he needed to get to.

He began to run along the rooftops, moving slightly nearer to the edge so he would be ready to jump onto the next line of roofs when the one he was on came to an end when it hit the courtyard.

"Stop him!" a voice shouted from below and, looking down, Altair saw the three guards running alongside him on the street below. A few citizens on the street, as well as in the buildings, looked out to see what all the commotion was saw the chase in front of them. Altair raced on, but as he looked ahead he saw that the rooftop ended and he had passed the area where he could jump because he had looked down at the guards. There was only one thing he could do now.

He was going to have to jump to the next row of rooftops ahead of the one he was on. It was going to be suicide, but it was either that or he could run back and possibly end up running into guards. The rooftop end came closer with every foot he ran. More citizens were watching from the streets now and another two guards who had been patrolling in a side street had joined their comrades in chasing after this hooded man.

Breathing in as he reached the end of the rooftop, his lungs swelling as far as they would go and his heart almost stopping from It's hectic beating, he jumped. For a moment, he was moving through the air with nothing around him to land on that would cushion his fall or nothing to grab onto to stop himself. He looked at the rooftop and saw inch closer and closer. He mentally began to pray. Just a little further!

Yes! His feet successfully landed on it and he ran on. His heart resumed It's mad beating as he ran down the row of houses, rising up when a roof came a to a kind of point and then sliding down the side of it. He jumped over a small alleyway onto the next house and ran on. The guards shouted for him to stop where he was, but Altair did not and ran on and on, nearing the courtyard where the man with the hook was playing on the piano.

It was then, as he neared the upcoming courtyard that he realised something terrible. There were no more houses attached to this row that led on towards the stables and the next one that did on was too far for him to jump and if he tried, he would probably end up breaking his leg. Damn! He was stuck and looking behind him, the guards were catching up. He was going to have to improvise, and quick.

Then, he saw his chance. A cart full of boxes of fruit had just come to a halt below. The two men pulling it began to unload it with another man coming out from the building Altair was standing on, probably a fruit shop. The cart was within range, even though it was near the crowd of people gathered around the man playing the piano, but they were distracted from helping the guards as long as he was.

Altair stepped back a few paces, quickly calculating the distance in his mind and breathing in, readying himself. Then, he ran forward as if he were running a marathon and jumped and fell through the air.

CRASH! Everyone in the courtyard suddenly turned round upon hearing the noise. Even the man playing the piano stopped half-way through the next key note and looked over at the cart, which lay broken on the ground. Several boxes of fruit were smashed, one having the oranges inside it roll out onto the ground. The three men unloading it, who had been in the shop when they had heard the crash, rushed over along with most of the crowd to see if who, or what had just done this.

"Don't let him get away!" the leading guard shouted to the crowd as they approached, who were puzzled by what he meant.

Suddenly, Altair burst out of the boxes of fruit within the cart, sending apples, grapes, oranges, peaches and such flying through the air, and jumped from it to the ground, almost knocking a woman over, and ran. Confusion reigned for a few seconds as the crowd tried to process what happened before the guards ran past them, almost falling over by stepping or sliding on the fruit, and they realised what had happened. Some of the men ran after the guards to help them in capturing this man, the hook handed man joining them. Behind them, a large crowd began to follow, eager to see what was to happen.

**Meanwhile, at the courtyard ahead**

"Okay, Frederickson, are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah-(hiccup)…I-I'll be f-f-fi-i-in-n-n-e, Eugene!"

Eugene gave a slight chuckle as Attila, a tall heavily built man dressed mostly in knight armour and shorts with a large helmet on his head, and was one of the thugs who had been at the large inn on the mainland, lifted up the old man and placed him on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Attila," Eugene said.

"Don't mention it, Eugene!" he replied, turning to take Frederickson back to his house to let him rest so he could sleep off the enormous hangover he would have soon, but just as he turned, he stopped. "What the…?" he said, quickly trailing off, pointing down the path.

Eugene, and just about everyone else in the courtyard, looked to see a large crowd of people chasing after a man in a white hood. At first, he thought somebody was hurt, but when he saw the guards behind the man in the hood, along with them shouting "Stop! Somebody catch him!" he realised they were chasing after him.

The man ran into the courtyard, looking over his shoulder to see the growing crowd chasing after him. Panic began to fill him. He was going to have to lose them soon of he would never get out of here alive.

"Hey stop!"

He looked ahead of him to see a large armoured man with the drunken old man he had seen earlier over his shoulder stop in his path, tensing his muscular arms and ready to stop him. Altair's mind, however, was like a lightning bolt and he quickly jumped forward towards the man, turning sideways and thrusting out his arm and shoulder towards him. They struck the armoured man in the face and sent him flying backwards, Eugene ducking down, towards the door, sending him right through it into the pub. A scream and a few shouts erupted from inside, followed by several loud crashes. Eugene, who looked up to see the man rush off down the path that entered the courtyard from the one with the fountain, rushed over to the door of the pub.

"Attila, are you okay?" he shouted.

A grunt came in reply, followed by several others as a few other men and women sat up from the floor, having been knocked over when Attila came flying through the door. Several tables had been overturned, along with the chairs that had been under them. As everyone picked themselves up, the old drunken man groaned from under a turned over table. A drop of something hit him on the head and he looked up with his half-closed eyes and saw it was a drink.

"Don't mind if I do," he muttered drunkenly as he opened his mouth and let it drop into him.

Eugene was shocked beyond words at this. That guy could have killed someone! Well, he was going to have to stop him before he hurt someone else.

He ran from the doorway and joined the crowd, quickly over taking many of them as they chased after the man, who had just neared the next and last courtyard.

Altair ran on into the next courtyard. By this point, the crowd that had been chasing him had grown to a considerable large size and was getting bigger. The noise was almost deafening, causing about half of the people in the courtyard to look down the path where it was coming from. Even many people were looking out of their house windows or coming out of the buildings that surrounded the courtyard to see what was going on.

Altair ran over to the fountain and jumped onto the side of it, then onto the top and then off it, launching himself over the heads of the girls who had stopped playing their game of hopscotch to see who was being chased. He landed with a thud and took off as soon as his feet had hit the ground, running as fast as he could down the path. The stables were just under a hundred feet from him and just a little over a hundred feet from him was the bridge. If he could get in there, grab his horse and then go he could easily escape from this mob and-

"Hey you, stop!" a voice shouted from behind.

Altair looked over his shoulder to see a tall man of about his age with short brown hair and a small beard and dressed in a dark cream coloured trousers and a white top with brown boots was chasing after him. He recognized him instantly. It was the thief Flynn Rider! Looks like he had changed after all and what amazed Altair was that he had overtaken the rest of the crowd and was getting beginning to catch up. Some of the men in the crowd were cheering him on and the former thief had a look of concentration and determination on his face as if he was about dive forward and pin him to the ground.

Luckily, though, Altair had an idea up his sleeve. _Let's see if you can do this _he thought with ease.

Eugene quickened his pace as he neared the hooded man, slowly and gradually managing to catch up to him. He had looked over his shoulder directly at him just now and had probably seen the look in his Eugene's eyes to let him know that he was going to have to think of something fast if he was get out of this. A sense of victory began to fill Eugene. He was going to capture this man for hurting his friends and threatening other people here and for…well, whatever it was the guards were chasing him for.

All of a sudden, the man turned left and ran towards the building near him. At first, Eugene thought, and hoped that he was going trying tom escape through a building and would end up getting trapped. But when he saw him run to a wall and then _up_it as if he was scaling a rock completely shocked him to his core, and it only happened again as he screeched to a halt, along with the rest of the crowd, and watched him climb onto the roof and disappear from sight.

"Damn!" Eugene growled, sighing in frustration and running his hands hard through his hair.

"Alright, split up!" one of the guards shouted. He pointed at one of his guards. "You, take a group and go around the side to the back of the buildings," the guard nodded and took away a few people to look for the man. The lead guard pointed to his other remaining guard soldier. "You, take a group and go through the buildings. Tell anyone inside It's an order to let you through. Head right through them to the back," this guard nodded and took a group and entered a shop where those inside had been watching the scene unfold. The lead guard and the rest of the crowd, among them the hook handed thug, ran over to Eugene. "We'll go around the other end and try and cut him off," he said to Eugene, who nodded.

"Yeah, boats are on the other side," he replied and they led the group off to the end of the path to go around the side of the row of houses to capture this man.

When they did, they saw in front of them several small rows of fences and a small wooden dry dock leading off from the island and stopping about thirty feet from it with several smaller wooden plank paths coming off the sides of it, each one ending after about ten feet. Several small boats were parked next to these wooden plank paths. Within the small pasture they were in before the fences was a small cart of hay and in gardens afterwards were several toys or small piles of boxes piled up before the back doors of the houses or shops. Several back doors opened and the second group began to emerge out of the buildings. The group sent off first also appeared at the other end of the row of houses just over a hundred feet away.

"Right, let's start searching," Eugene said and they all moved into the gardens and into the dry dock boats and began searching them.

Unknown to them, however, the hay in the cart began to rustle and a hooded man poked his head up from it. It was Altair. He had jumped down into the hay from the roof and waited for the tactic to work as it had done many times before. Looking out from the back of the pile of hay, he saw that the huge group looking for him was scattered about and had It's back to him. Now was his chance!

Quietly and quickly as he could, he climbed out of the cart of hay and ran over to the corner wall opf the last building and hid behind it. He quickly poked his head out to check and see if he was in the clear. He was. Good. Keeping low, he out onto the main path and down it to the front stable entrance towards the main wooden door. He grabbed the handle and pulled back as hard as he could to open it before placing his other hand on it. Suddenly, he gasped in pain and withdrew his hand from the front of the door and looked down at it to reveal a small cut. A small trail of blood came out of it and the wound began to sting. Altair, however, realising that he was in a dangerous place, ran into the stable and shut the door quietly behind him, looking at the front of the door to see a small nail sticking out of it, the front of it now slightly dark red from where it had pierced Altair's skin and given him the cut.

"At least it was not deep," he muttered to himself as he closed the door quietly, though it still made a slight thud, one that attracted the attention of someone at the other end of the stables in one of the pens with a window on it.

From behind the wooden wall of the pen, Rapunzel, with Pascal on her shoulder, looked through a gap in the boards down the stables to see the strange hooded man enter and walk over to another pen where a black horse was standing. She recognized him instantly. He was the man who she had given directions yesterday to Salad's carpentry. Questions began to fill her mind. Who was he? Why was here? More importantly: why was he in here?

A snort from behind her drew her attention to see a large white horse with a tuft of hair going across the back of his head and strong powerful looking legs behind her. A saddle was already placed on him. His name was Maximus. He was the captain's horse and was pretty much the head of security in the kingdom, after the captain of course. He had cleaned up crime in the city almost overnight and had also helped Eugene and Rapunzel in getting back to the kingdom and saving Rapunzel from Gothel. Next to Pascal, he was their best animal friend.

Maximus nodded his head towards the window and Rapunzel, keeping as quiet as she could so as not to attract the attention of this man, moved over to it and looked out. From where she was, she could see the large groups of people searching the back gardens and the wooden dry dock.

"Why are they doing this?" she whispered to herself.

Pascal poked her on the cheek with his tail, making her look at him, and he pointed at the groups with his tail and then at his eyes and then over at the man. Rapunzel grasped what he was telling her, having been with him for a number of years, she knew how he spoke to her and what he meant, and gasped quietly, looking over at him through a small hole in the end of the boards to see him open the pen door and step into it. They were looking for him! She had to get them over here!

She stood up and cupped her hands around her mouth and breathed in deeply and shouted: "Euge-" but that was as far as she got when, all of a sudden, a wooden board flew through the air and hit her in the side of the head, sending her into Maximus and causing them to fall to the ground, Pascal flying off her shoulder with a loud squeak. Thankfully, though, he landed on the end of her dress. As he and Maximus looked up, another wooden board struck Maximus, hitting him in the head and knocking him out. Pascal retreated back to the corner between the wall and the boards and watched as the man rushed over and grabbed Rapunzel, who was now knocked out as well when the board hit her, and dragged her away towards the pen. Panic filled the chameleon. He was taking his friend away! He had to get the others!

He climbed up the wall to the window. Thankfully, though, to his relief, he saw the group rushing over to them, having heard Rapunzel shout at them. Seeing that part of his job was done, he jumped over to Maximus' head and began hitting it with his tail to try and wake him up. He had no luck though, reminding him of when he had tried to do the same to Eugene when Rapunzel and him had caught him in the tower on the mainland, but that thought made another idea spring to his mind. He crawled over to Maximus' ear and stuck his tongue out into it. Just as he expected, again like when he had used it on Eugene, Maximus woke with a gasp and rubbed his ear on the top of his leg, snorting un-amusingly at what his chameleon friend had just done.

"Guys!" Eugene explained as he jumped through the window into the stables. "Where's Rapunzel?"

Pascal pointed over to the pen. Eugene looked, as did Pascal and Maximus and those at the windows, to see Altair on his horse and Rapunzel sitting behind him, though she had rope tied around her and a gag in her mouth and she was still knocked. He shot them a wide-eyed look as if scared and kicked his heels. His horse shot forward and burst through the door of the stable and out into the street, quickly turning left. Panic quickly gripped Eugene. He had Rapunzel and he was heading for the bridge!

He grabbed Pascal and set him on his shoulder and climbed onto Maximus. "C'mon, Maximus!" he said.

Maximus nodded and shot off down the stable and out into the street and chased after Altair. The guards rushed to get on their horses and help with the hook handed thug leading a group of people onto the bridge on foot.

Adrenaline pumped through Altair's body as he rode down the bridge towards the mainland, which seemed to numb the stinging pain in his bloodied hand. He could see it getting closer and closer with every gallop his horse took. However, he now had a new problem. What was he going to do with this girl? He could not let her go in case she escaped or told them where he had gone but taking her, though, was just as bad because if she was princess then the kingdom would stop at nothing to get her back.

Just then, as he looked on ahead at the mainland, he heard the sounds of more hooves galloping on the pavement and he looked over his shoulder to see another horse chasing after him. It was him again. Flynn Rider! His horse was catching up to him quickly. Altair had to think of something fast or he was dead.

Just then, as he looked back ahead, he saw the guard who had greeted him when he arrived in the city yesterday standing up next to where he had been sitting, talking to a man with a cart full of more fruit. As he saw this, an idea began to form in Altair's head and he reached for his sword. Behind him, Eugene saw this and went wide-eyed, as did Maximus and Pascal, who was hanging onto to Eugene's shoulder as hard as he could so as not to fall off as Maximus galloped. Fear gripped the three of them, expecting this man to attack someone.

The guard and the man up ahead, meanwhile, were oblivious to the threat approaching them.

"So was it okay getting here?" the guard asked the man, who just shrugged.

"I suppose," he replied. "Weather wasn't as good yesterday as it is today. Almost got bogged down on the side of the road…and…" he was cut off when the sound of galloping hooves filled his and the guards' ears. The two looked up the bridge and saw two men on horses riding towards them. The second man on the horse appeared to be chasing after the first and the two went wide-eyed when their eyes rested on him. The first man, who was hooded, was carrying a sword and he had it out and looked like he was ready to strike!

"Oh God, watch out!" the guard shouted as Altair rode towards them, raising his sword, ready to strike.

The man yelped and jumped backwards in an attempt to get out of the way of this man, only for them to collide with the guard and cause the two to fall over the side of the bridge. Both men yelled loudly as they fell towards the water, only for it to stop abruptly with a loud splash, indicating they had hit the water.

Up above on the bridge, Altair swung his sword in an attacking way, but he had not been aiming for the innocent men, as that would be breaking one of the three creeds of the assassins and he knew all too well what would happen if he did that. Instead, his blade cut through the wooden wheels on the side of the cart, cutting them off from the main part of the vehicle. The sudden shift in eight caused some of the boxes to break through the thin wooden barrier on the side of the cart and fall to the ground and break. Very quickly, a tide of wood fell out from the cart and was smashed to pieces, the fruits, this time mostly watermelons and grapes, to spill out onto the bridge.

"WHOA, STOP MAXIMUS!" Eugene yelled, pulling back hard on the reins of his horse, who also tried to skid to a halt upon seeing the danger. Pascal squeaked in fear and dived into Eugene's neck part of his clothes, covering his head.

Not even a second later, Maximus' hooves landed on a watermelon, crashing right through it and sending the juice inside over the stone floor of the bridge. His other legs hit several of the other fruits scattered about on the bridge. Quickly, he lost his balance and, with a scream, fell forward to the ground, skidding across it into the cart. Eugene was sent off him and landed amongst the remaining boxes that remained in the cart, breaking through most of them and quickly getting covered in the juices of the fruit inside them. He groaned as he pulled himself up out of the mess. At least the fruit had cushioned his fall.

Pascal crawled out from his neck collar. "You okay, Pascal?" Eugene asked him and he nodded.

"Eugene!" a voice called. He looked behind him to see the hook handed thug reach him with the rest of the group reach them. "You alright?" the hook handed thug asked him.

Eugene nodded lightly and looked back up the bridge and looked on hopelessly with Pascal and everyone else as they watched the hooded man's horse jump the last few feet of the bridge and run off into the trees, quickly disappearing into the green depths of the forest. Eugene felt terrible. He wanted to cry, but managed to stop himself from doing so and slammed his fist onto a box in front of him. Pascal looked sadly down at the ground, as did Maximus, the feeling of defeat sweeping through all of them like water on rock.

This man had Rapunzel. Only God knows what would happen to her now.


	9. Preparing for the rescue

**Ten minutes later**

Using a cloth, Eugene dipped it into a bowl of water and held it up, the water trickling down off it and splashing loudly back into the bowl as if it did not want to leave it. He ringed it out and wiped it over his wet face, which was covered with juice from the grapes and the watermelons that had been in the cart when he had fallen into it earlier. Some of the juice stains were still visible on his clothes and after using the cloth on his face, he began to wipe them off his top and trousers.

A sad sounding sigh caused him to look up. Next to the bowl was Pascal, who looked sadly out of the window on the wall next to them, which overlooked the city and the bay. To see the mainland, he would have had to stick his head out and look right and right now, he really wanted to do that to see if one of his best friends would come running back across the bridge, safe and sound. At the same time, though, he did not want to look at the mainland because it still painfully hurt him that they had failed to save her and now she was missing and having…only God knows what done to her by this hooded man.

Eugene sighed and looked down at the ground, the feeling of failure and defeat still weighing heavily down upon him like a bag of weights that had been wrapped around his neck. He felt terrible as well for failing to save his lover, someone who he really cared about, some who he respected, someone he _loved_! For her to be taken away from him was like losing a personal item, except that Rapunzel was more than an item and he would give anything to get her back, just like he would have done before.

"Don't worry, Pascal," he said to the chameleon in a reassuring voice, though it sounded unsure itself as he spoke. "We'll…we'll get her back. Don't worry,"

Pascal gave him a look as if to say: _"How do you know?" _and Eugene could not help but agree with him. How could he know that they would save Rapunzel? How could they even know where she was? This man was on a horse. For all they knew, they could be half-way to Venice or in the mountains or somewhere by now. It just really looked like it was it for her, to which Eugene cursed himself mentally for thinking something like that, but his mind would just now stop going to the worst possible scenario of this predicament. Was it really it for her now? Last time when she had been kidnapped by Gothel and taken back to the tower, Eugene still had a chance to rescue her and that was only because the thugs and Maximus helped him. This time, though, all of them had failed to stop this man and get Rapunzel back and look what had happened as a result of their failure. He just could not cope with it. He just wanted to break down and pray for her to come back safely.

The door to the room burst open and Eugene and Pascal, after recovering from the shock, looked over to see the king and queen enter, both with shocked and worried looks on their faces. Behind them was the captain of the Corona guards. He said something to another guard that had accompanied them and he nodded and closed the door.

"Eugene," the king said. "Are you okay?" he asked.

He nodded lowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied in a low tone.

"Please," the queen said in a desperate voice, walking up to him, her eyes almost on the point of tears. "Eugene, please tell me you saw where they went! D-did they go left or right on the mainland?"

For a moment, he paused, unable to bring himself to tell her that they had disappeared and, quite frankly, could be anywhere by now. She was a desperate mother and the worst thing to tell a mother was that their child was missing and nowhere to be found, especially when it involved kidnapping. Unfortunately, he could not bring himself to lie to her and, heavily, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, your majesty," he replied lowly. "They just…disappeared into the trees. We don't know where they went or even where they could be,"

Upon hearing those words, the queen broke into sobs and almost fell over if Eugene and her husband had not grabbed her. The king held her against his chest as she buried her face into it, sobbing hysterically. He looked at Eugene with sad eyes, but had also come to face the truth. Their daughter was missing again, something they really, _really _did not want to happen, but this time there was a chance that she might not come back at all. Oh, it was like the night of her birth all those eighteen years ago all over again.

The captain stepped forward. "Did you…uh, get a look at this man, Ri-I mean…Fitzherbert?" he asked.

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, he was wearing a white uniform, l-like that of the Crusaders,"

Upon hearing that last word, the king and queen looked up, both shocked to the core. "T-the Crusaders?" the king repeated, breath-taken with what he had just heard.

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, your majesty. He was wearing a white uniform like what the Crusaders were wearing, but…but he had a hood on that was covering his face. Apparently, Rapunzel told me this earlier, that she had met him yesterday and directed him to some guy's carpentry,"

The king looked at his wife with wide, but hopeful eyes. Even though there were several carpentries scattered about the kingdom, they could ask each one if they had been talking with this man. Perhaps then they might be able to get a lead on who this man was and possibly even where he was going.

Eugene looked at the captain, who was staring out the window with slightly wide eyes as if in a trance.

"You okay, captain?" he asked him.

The captain turned his head back around to face Eugene and shook it slightly, blinking his eyes several times as if trying to wake up out of his trance.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," he replied. "Just lost it for a minute there," he added. He cleared his throat. "So, you said that this man had a white hood?" he repeated and Eugene nodded. "Then it won't be a Crusader," he muttered.

Eugene looked at the king and queen, a little surprised at how the captain knew this. "How d'you know?" he asked.

"Oh they…came through here a few days ago to let us know they were going to be camping on the other side of the bay on the mainland," he answered. "Plus, I know that Crusaders don't wear hoods unless It's raining and obviously as you can see, It's not really winter weather now,"

"Look, this still does not help us in getting Rapunzel back," the queen said, breaking free of her husband and walking over to the two. "We have to find her. I mean, she…she could be hurt for all we know or been taken away to some prison or some cellar!"

"Your majesty, I assure you, we'll find her," the captain told her. He turned to Eugene. "Get dressed into new clothes and meet me down in the courtyard later," he said to him.

"Why, what are you doing?" Eugene asked.

"I'm going to gather together a search party and quickly sort out some other matters," the captain answered. "We're going to go looking for Rapunzel,"

The king and queen looked hopefully at each other, as did Eugene and Pascal. Finally, they were going something! All was not lost!

"When are you going to go searching for her, captain?" the king asked the captain.

"Tonight, sire," he replied.


	10. Why are you here?

**Later that night**

"Argh! Will you let me go already?"

"Oh be quiet!"

On the edge of a small river several miles in land from the bay, and the bridge that led across it to the island kingdom of Corona, Altair sat on a fallen tree trunk across from Rapunzel, who glared at him from across the fire that he had set up with piles of sticks and leaves, a small bruise mark on her forehead from where he had hit her with the wooden board in the stable. He just ignored her and looked down at the ground, uncaring of what she was thinking of him right now. Quite frankly, he did not want her to be here as much as she did not want to be here, but, as she had knowledge on who he was, he could not risk letting her go for his sake and also the brotherhood's.

High above them, the light of day was beginning to fade into the west, turning the sky a really beautiful array of colours, mostly of red, gold and orange. Just like all evenings, it was a very amazing thing to see. Soon, the night would take over the sky and fill it with thousands upon thousands of stars that would light it up like holes in a continuous black sky that the light was able to get through as if letting the world know that the darkness of the night would not last forever.

A slight moan of pain caused Altair to look up to see Rapunzel place a hand on her forehead where the bruise was, When her fingers touched it though, it stung and she withdrew her hand wincing in pain. It really hurt and it was going to be a while before it went down.

"Are you okay?" Altair asked her and she shot him another glare.

"Well what do you think?" she retorted angrily. "Oh no, I'm fine," she continued sarcastically. "My head's hurting and I have a bruise, but other than that, I'm a hundred percent. Never felt better!"

Altair just rolled his eyes, breathing out a sigh through his nose. "Very well, if you wish to be like that," he replied and looked back down at the ground. "I do not want you here as much as you do not want to be here,"

"Well then why did you knock me out and drag me away?" she shouted back at him, shooting up from the log she was sitting on, her face going red in anger.

"Because I could not risk you going off and telling your father, the king, about Salad!" he replied, his voice rising as well. "And yes, I know who you are," he added quickly before she could ask him how he knew she was the princess. "I saw that painting of you and your family and of that thief Flynn Rider in the city,"

Rapunzel sighed and sat back down on the log, glaring deeply at him from her green eyes. He just looked back unimpressively at her. After a moment, she breathed a heavy and frustrated sigh and turned away from him and placed her hand on her head to see if the bruise was going down. Unfortunately, it was not. Altair just watched her and shook her head. She would not be able to understand why he had taken her away. After all, she would do the same to him if they were in each other's positions.

Though, Rapunzel tending her wound did make him remember his. He turned over his hand to see a faint mark on his hand from where he had cut it earlier on. It still stung whenever he touched it with his finger and when he did; he had to almost clench his fist to conceal the pain in his hand. Rapunzel was not the only one feeling pain tonight.

"It will hurt whenever I use my sword now," he muttered to himself as he looked down at his wound as if it were a mark that would not go away. Even though it would heal eventually, that could take days, weeks even and with the fiasco today, there was a chance that Robert's lieutenant would have an idea now that a hooded man in the city would mean he was being hunted by the Assassin's Creed and he would make a run for it. If he did then…Altair clenched his fist tightly and shook it in anger, though he quickly released it upon feeling the stinging pain flare up his arm and through his body once again.

Rapunzel looked back over at him, upon hearing him speak, and watched him do this, but she was no longer glaring at him. Somewhere inside her, the anger toward this man, though it still remained, had subsided mostly. Now her large green eyes just looked at him with curiousness, even a little bit of sympathy. She felt questions burning within her, determined to ask him all sorts of things like who he was, what he was doing here and why he had taken her. All of it had to add up somewhere, but how and, more importantly, why?

Sighing, she got up and walked over to Altair. He looked up from his hand at her as she approached. Though he did not glare at her like she had done, his piercing eagle-like eyes told her that he was not in a welcoming mood.

"Are you feeling sympathetic now?" he asked in a questionable, but sarcastic tone.

She rolled her eyes. "As a matter of fact, yes," she told him, sitting down on the log next to him. "Look, you've hurt your hand,"

"So? What can you do about it?"

"I'll show you, just give it here," she held up her hand and he stared at it and then into her eyes that told him that she could trust him, which was amazing despite what he had done to her earlier on. For a moment, he hesitated as if uncertain about what to do but decided to comply and put his injured hand into hers, feeling the softness of her skin.

"What is it you are going to do?" he asked her.

"Watch," she replied. "Just…, promise you want freak out," she added.

Freak out? Why would he freak out? He had seen a lot of things that had scared him more than what she could possibly do that would freak him out as she put it?

"Very well," he replied, still disbelieving of what she was so scared about or what he had to be worried about.

With a little relief in her eyes, she turned over his hand and placed her other hand on it and closed her eyes. Altair watched her, thinking: _"What is she doing?" _in a way that was as if this was wasting his time. She took a deep breath and, with a bit of amazement from him, began to sing.

_"Flower gleam and glow,"_

_"Let your power shine,"_

_"Make the clock reverse,"_

_"Bring back what once was mine,"_

Altair just looked at her with confused eyes to why she was singing this song to him. How was it going to he-wait a minute. A dim glow began to emanate from her hands around his and it gradually began to get brighter and brighter as if it were a second sun rising out of her hands. He looked back up at her, but this time with wide eyes.

_"Heal what had been hurt," _

"_Change the Fate's design,"_

_"Save what has been lost,"_

_"Bring back what once was mine,"_

The glow reached a bright point that Altair had to look away from in fear that he would go blind. Admittedly, a sense of concern, even full blown fear, began to fill him and he felt very tempted to pull his hand away, but he was so shocked at what was going on, he just…he could not do it. It was as if his hand wanted to stay there and, if what she was doing was true to what she had told him, be healed.

_"What once was mine,"_

Upon finishing, Rapunzel looked up at him with a look as if to say: _"Well, see for yourself," _Altair hesitated for a moment as if he was nervous something would happen to him if he looked at it. Slowly, though, he turned over his hand and went wide-eyed when he saw that the mark left there by his cut earlier on was…was gone! It was completely gone! He turned over his hand several more times, suspecting if this was a trick, but it was not. He looked up at Rapunzel once again, his mind finally realising something.

"Y-you!" he whispered, though it was loud enough for Rapunzel to hear him. "Y-you're the one!"

It was her! She-she was the healing incarnation. She was how the city had become so healthy and fit.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "Though, It's not literally me," she explained. "When I was born, my mother passed on this special healing power from her to me and it can be used when I sing that song I just sang now. It has the power to heal sick people and bring people back to life. It used to be in my hair, which was blonde and really, _really _long, but when Eugene, that's Flynn Rider's real name, cut it, the power…well, went into my body and…" she shrugged. "Yeah, that's it," she concluded.

"It is really amazing," Altair said, looking back down at his hand.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah it is," she agreed.

Silence fell between them, being penetrated only by the noise of the wind rustling through the leaves of the branches around them. High above them, the last light of day disappeared behind the distant mountains and far away to the east; the first inch of the night sky was approaching. It would be dark soon.

"So," Rapunzel spoke up, looking at Altair. "Um…I know this may sound a bit of short notice and…probably even pointless now," she let out a slight laugh. "But…who are you?"

Altair hesitated for a moment, his mind asking itself whether it was the right thing to answer her question. On the one hand, he wanted to remain anonymous. On the other hand, she had just healed him and he did feel a kind of urge to…well, pay her back. What harm could there be anyway. It was not like she or her father or even the whole kingdom were fond of the Crusaders or the Templars.

He held up his hand. "Altair," he answered.

Rapunzel took his hand and shook it. "Rapunzel," she introduced and let go of his hand. "So…why are you here, Altair?"

"I cannot tell you,"

"Look, Altair, your obviously here for something. I mean, you ask me yesterday where Salad lives and today, you knock me out and kidnap me and bring me out here to the forest. Seriously, that does not happen on a daily basis. Something brought you here. Fate. Destiny…" a snort came from nearby and she looked over to see his horse tied to a tree, grazing on the grass. "A horse," she continued. "Seriously, something important has brought you here. Why can't you tell me?"

"Because it goes against the Creed," he answered, but quickly hated himself for saying that. _Damnit! _"Look, Rapunzel, the reason I am here is to search for something, but I will tell you why or who it is or anything else to do with it. Are we clear?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes, and nodded. "Yes, okay," she replied lowly in an annoyed tone.

"Good,"

"But wait, why did you say I was the one or something when I healed your hand?"

Altair huffed. Well, that was not as important as finding Robert's lieutenant and not really a secret. It was pretty much one already. Yes, there was no harm in answering this.

"Well, the answer to that is because when I was sent over here, I had been told of a certain healing incarnation that had made your kingdom into what it is now," he explained to her. "I had been told to take a sample of it and bring it back to my home. Obviously…I just did not expect it to be you that would be the healing incarnation,"

"Are you going to take me away?" she asked him a little worryingly.

Altair looked at her, gazing deep into her large green eyes, seeing very clearly the worry in her question. Was he going to though? He was asking himself that very question? He had been told to, but…but this incarnation was a woman, and not any woman, but a princess! Did he have the right to do it?

After a moment, he looked back down at the fire, the warmth of it embracing him. "No," he replied. "I won't take you back with me to my home,"

A sense of relief swept into her. At least that was over and done with, but what about her now?

"What about now?" she asked him and he looked up at her. "Are you going to take me back?"

He hesitated to reply for a moment. Was he going to though? After all, he did not have any more use of her, but if he did let her go, who was to say she did not suddenly start telling everyone who he was and that Salad knew who he was? It was just unpredictable.

"Well…" he began, quickly trailing off for a moment. "Will you tell them about me?" he asked her.

She paused for a moment, thinking over his question, and shook her head lightly. "No. I promise I won't tell about you and Salad knowing each other,"

"How can I be sure though?" he pressed on, now turning his whole body to face her and moving closer to her in a sort of intimidating way, but she held her ground.

"Because when I promise something, I never, _ever _break that promise," she told him confidently. "And by never, I mean **never**!" she added.

Altair looked at her for a moment, debating what she had told him. Who was to say she was lying? He had a slight feeling that told him that as soon as he took her back, she would turn him and Salad in. It was very risky after all, but, then again she did sound very confident and firm when she told him she never broke a promise.

After a moment, he withdrew. "Very well," he said lowly, believing her but still having her doubts.

Silence fell between them once more. Altair picked up a small branch on the ground near his feet and tossed it into the flames. The glow of the fire lit up the clearing they were in like a light and he watched it burn as if it were taking away his current problems but also reminding him of his mission and that now he was going to have to improvise. How was he going to get back into Corona if the lieutenant of Robert was still there? More importantly: _was _he even still there? For all he knew, he could have left by now and was probably miles away. If he was, then Altair's mission here was completely pointless.

As Altair went to look back up at Rapunzel to ask her something, the horse suddenly looked up in the direction of the bushes with a nervous grunt. The two heard him and looked over to see him looking edgy.

"Is he alright?" Rapunzel asked.

"He's nervous," Altair replied, having seen this many times before with horses he had rode to different places. He knew their feelings almost instantly as soon as he laid eyes on them and fear was once that he knew very well as it displayed itself very easily. He slowly got up from the log, looking over to the trees, his hand gripping his sword, his ears open like a gazelle out on the African savannah, listening out for danger.

"Is there any-" Rapunzel asked but Altair cut her off.

"Ssshh!" he hissed, silencing her.

He took a step towards the trees, his eyes searching them like some kind of scanning device. Even though night time was settling in, it was still light enough for him to see the trees and the bushes. He searched them clearly with his eyes, trying to find out what it was that spooked his horse, but he could not find it. Maybe his horse was just being nervous.

He looked back at Rapunzel. "I cannot see anything," he told her, going to put his sword away. "It's nothi-"

SNAP! All of a sudden, Altair's horse screamed in fear and reared up as the bushes nearby suddenly burst open and a man dressed in gold armour and a kind of red sleeved top and boots with a helmet on came charging out of them, his sword raised high above him. Rapunzel screamed and dived to the ground. Altair was taken by surprise, but brought up his own sword and dived out of the way of the horse, narrowly missing a swing from the man's sword. He got up and readied himself to deflect him when he came around again.

Suddenly, a figure launched himself at him and pinned him to the ground, knocking his sword out of his hand. The two began to struggle violently in an attempt to beat the other. More guards rushed out of the bushes towards them. Rapunzel looked up and saw the man wrestling with Altair was Eugene.

"Eugene!" she cried, getting up. She rushed over to the struggling two and grabbed him and pulled him off Altair. "Stop! Stop fighting!"

"You stay there!" one of the soldiers demanded. The three looked to see it was the captain. He and the soldier next to him stopped a few feet from Altair, their swords out and at the ready for a battle. Altair grabbed his sword from the ground, ready to fight them as well, but Rapunzel stopped him from attacking.

"Altair, stop," she begged. She looked at the captain. "It's okay, captain, h-he won't hurt me!"

"I hope your right," he replied, putting his sword away. The soldier next to him did the same. Altair kept his hand on his just in case.

"Rapunzel, are you okay?" Eugene asked her, walking up to her and embracing her tightly. "God, I was so worried about you. Your parents almost died when they found out he kidnapped you," he shot Altair a glare and he replied like so. "He hasn't hurt you, has he?" he asked her. Rapunzel went to reply, but Eugene saw the bruise on her head. "Where did you…did he…die he do that?" he asked furiously, pointing at him.

Rapunzel sighed. "Yes, Eugene, but look, he was going to let me go anyway," she told him. "Now can we stop trying to kill each other?" she said loudly to make sure the others got the point.

Eugene and Altair glared deeply at one another but nodded. They were safe from each other's wrath, for now.

"Alright, Rapunzel, Eugene, let's go," the captain said to them. "And you, mister…" he said to Altair, though he stopped when he realised he did not know his name.

"Altair," Altair told him.

"Right, Altair. You come with us as well," he said. "We need to talk to you,"

"About what?" Altair demanded. "About how you're going to cut me up or hang me?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Eugene said to him. Altair glared at him again and went to reply, but the captain cut him off.

"No, no! Nothing like that," he said. "It's important. I'll explain it to you when we get back to Corona. Now c'mon, let's go,"

The captain led Eugene and Rapunzel away. Altair sighed and put his sword away and followed them, the soldier on foot next to the captain and the soldier on the horse following him.


	11. Telling them

**Two hours later**

The captain of the guards, along with two soldiers, led Altair, with Eugene and Rapunzel close behind, down the dimly corridor of the castle, the flames from the torches on the walls flickering as they burned, making the corridor go dark and light at the same time. The few windows along the walls now portrayed a darkness covered world with a star covered sky that seemed to stretch farther than the eye could see. It was to be another perfect night. Well, weather wise it was.

After the group had arrived back at the city, the captain had insisted he take them to a private room to talk to them first before letting them go. He had said it was to do with something 'important', but what exactly, the others did not have a clue about. Even Altair did not know but he had decided to co-operate. After all, despite the distrust between him and virtually everyone here, he still had a mission to do here so it was best he did not risk losing the chance.

"In here," The captain said as they reached the end of the corridor where a single wooden door was. He opened it and they walked inside, the two guards stopping outside the door closing it behind Eugene and Rapunzel as they walked inside the room.

The room was a quite big. It was a rectangular shape with a large open curtain that led out onto a balcony that overlooked the city. Several tables with maps, of the city and the surrounding countryside, on them were placed against the side of the walls. One of them had a small candle burning on it. More torches lined the walls of this room, lighting it up dimly like out in the corridor.

"Rider, Rapunzel, take a seat," the captain said, nodding over to the few chairs under the tables. The two walked over to them and Eugene drew a chair for Rapunzel and checked the side of her head again to see if the bruise had gone down. He shot another glare at Altair as he did and the assassin just ignored him and looked over at the captain who quickly drew the curtains in case anyone tried listening in on their conversation from outside.

"What is it you wish to talk to us about?" Altair asked in a demanding voice.

"As I told you earlier, something important," the captain replied, walking over to him from the curtains, stopping a few feet in front of him, his hands behind his back. "You're an assassin, aren't you?" he said to Altair in a voice that sounded like he knew the answer to his own question already.

"Why should I tell you?" Altair asked.

"Because of the descriptions of you from many people," the captain replied. "Some weeks ago, a single Crusader leader on his way back to his home stopped here and he told me of these men in white hoods that carried hidden blades. He said you had spoken with King Richard at some location called Assaf,"

Altair paused for a moment, a little shocked that the captain knew all this, but he nodded with a heavy sigh.

"Then I will not mislead you," he said. "He is correct, but I ask you again: why have you brought us here?"

The captain gave a little smirk. "Very forceful, aren't you," he chuckled. "Very well. If you wish to know, then answer this question, Altair. Why are _you_ here?"

"Probably to kidnap, Rapunzel," Eugene piped up, though it was loud enough for Altair to hear, and he shot him a deadly glare, which Eugene returned.

"I would prefer if it was actually to put my blade to _your_throat!" Altair growled at him.

"Alright, that's enough!" the captain intervened sternly. "Now, Altair, why are you here?" he repeated.

"Why should I tell you? I did not tell her," he nodded towards Rapunzel. "I have no reason to,"

"Well, I think you do now, my friend. Because, whether you know this or not, the whole castle has been put on alert of your presence here along with all the guards in the city and if you try and escape from here, you will not find it easy as the whole city will be looking for you and, plus, the fact that you're on an island will not help you either. So you can either tell us why you're here, or you can be thrown in prison or be killed in an escape that won't work. You choose. Either of the three will suit me just fine,"

Altair sighed, shaking his hands and clenching them together as hard as he could in anger and frustration. It was bad enough he had been caught, but now he had to reveal why he was here to these people. That would almost certainly be going against one of the creeds of the Assassins, but then again, next to him being killed or put in prison, he would fail in finally stopping this Templar threat. Maybe for now, as much as he did not want to, he would _have _to break one of the creeds, but in doing so, he could use his own reason for being here as a bargaining chip as well.

"Alright," he gave in after a few seconds silence. "But we keep this between ourselves and _do not_…" he looked over at Eugene and Rapunzel. "Tell anyone else!" he told them sternly.

The captain nodded. "Fair enough. Just give me a moment," he replied and walked over to the door. As he went, Altair looked back over at Rapunzel. She winced a little as Eugene touched her head near the wound, which he apologized for.

"Is she alright?" Altair asked.

Eugene glared at him once again. "She would've been fine if you hadn't hit her in the head with that board!" he snapped.

"Look, I did not mean to. I grew desperate!" Altair pointed out. "I'll help!" he offered, but Eugene stopped him.

"Whoa! No, no, no!" he exclaimed, raising his hand at Altair, stopping him as if he were some kind of traffic warden. "You've done enough here, buddy,"

"Guys, please stop arguing," Rapunzel begged, groaning as she placed her hand on her head. It was beginning to hurt again from the headache she suffered earlier.

"Is everything alright?" the captain asked, walking back over to them. "Sorry, I had to get rid of the guards," he told them. "Right, okay, Altair, only us four will know, and we won't tell anyone. Will we?" he looked at Eugene and Rapunzel, who looked at each other for a moment, wondering if they should agree.

Eugene sighed. "Alright, fine," he replied. "Now what are you here for? What made you come here?" he asked Altair.

"I will explain," he began. "I'm part of an Assassin's Creed that is to stop the threat of the Templars in the Holy Lands. I've come here to look for a lieutenant, who has some…let's just say important knowledge that cannot be given out,"

"Who is this person a lieutenant of?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, a dead Templar by the name of De Sable," Altair told her.

"Robert De Sable?" the captain asked.

Altair looked at him and nodded. "Yes. How did you-"

"Oh, the Crusader that came through here some time ago said that you had killed him," he told him. "Anyway, go on,"

"Right. Um…this lieutenant of De Sable, as I was saying, has important knowledge that me and my Creed have deemed to be a threat to peace in the Holy Lands and he must be killed,"

"And you think he's here?" Eugene asked him.

"Yes. My master said he had come here a while ago now and is living here in the city. I do not know exactly who he is, but Salad, the carpenter, had said that he had met with the two Crusaders that had entered the city the other day after seeing the king,"

The captain nodded. "Yes, I remember that," he told them. "After they left, I watched them go somewhere on the edge of the city rather than to the bridge. It's a shame I didn't see who it was because I had to check up on guard positions on a tower around the gallows courtyard that was near where they went. Anyway, go on,"

"Well," Altair continued. "These Crusaders seem to know who he is, but with the fiasco I caused today, I doubt they will want to enter the city again,"

"Don't worry about that," the captain reassured him. "We'll make up some excuse. Say we found and killed the guy who killed that Crusader. That should ease them enough to make them come back in,"

Altair nodded. "Speaking of that Crusader, I heard him talking to a friend of his, saying that they were planning on taking the healing incarnation, in this case Rapunzel…" Eugene and Rapunzel gave him a wide-eyed look, unable to believe that someone had actually really tried to kidnap her, and again! She was really unlucky at this period of time. "Away with them," Altair concluded.

"Then we should get rid of them!" Eugene said, standing up. "We should tell the king and get him to get rid of the Crusaders!"

"We can't, Eugene, remember?" Rapunzel reminded him. "Altair needs them to be here,"

Eugene sighed in annoyance, slamming a hand on his face. "I really hope you aren't risking anyone's life here!" he said sternly to Altair, pointing an accusing finger at him. "She's been through enough already," he told him.

"Look, I know that now!" Altair snapped.

"Okay, that's enough you two!" the captain intervened before Eugene could argue back. He looked at Altair. "How many do you think know about this healing incarnation?" the captain asked him.

"Well…" Altair began, thinking hard. "There was that one Crusader who I killed today. He was talking to his friend and said that one of the commanders, someone called Geoffrey, knew about the healing incarnation as well, having spoken to this lieutenant about it," the captain nodded. "Altogether, that would have been three, but with the one I killed today, that leaves two,"

"Then we best get rid of them whilst we're finding out who this lieutenant," the captain said. "Right, I'll go tell the king your back," he said to Rapunzel.

"Hold," Altair said to him, stopping him. "Question for you now. Why are you helping me? Earlier, you had guards and much of the city trying to kill me,"

"Well," the captain sighed. "To be honest, even though I myself am not into killing, except for people who really deserve it," he paused, his eyes moved towards Eugene, which he did not notice, to prove his point to Altair. "It was a Crusader you had slain and me and the king know very well that they can be ruthless and thieving and not the sort of forgivable and forgetful force they would make themselves appear to be. To put a long story short, let's just say the king made a deal with the Crusaders and it did not benefit them in the Holy Lands and he thinks they could take revenge on him and the kingdom,"

Altair nodded. "Okay, that is fair enough," he said.

The captain nodded and looked towards Eugene and Rapunzel. "Right, you two, go and get some rest," he said to them. He then looked at Altair as they [Rapunzel and Eugene] stood up and left the room. "D'you have anywhere to stay?" he asked.

"Yes, Salad is letting me sleep in his carpentry," Altair told him.

"Okay, go back to there and get some rest. I'll send Eugene and Rapunzel to you tomorrow to get started on looking for this lieutenant,"

Altair nodded and walked out of the room into the corridor, the captain close behind. He closed the door behind him and watched Altair walk to the end of the corridor and turn left at one of the corners. When he left, he walked off down the corridor after him, but turned right and walked off towards the king and queen's quarters to report Rapunzel's safe return home.


	12. Off to the library

**The next day**

Another beautiful bright day had dawned for Corona and the people were glad, not only of the weather but also that their lost princess had returned to them last night, having been rescued and the word had been spread that the man in the hood had been killed in the rescue, which the people of the kingdom were glad of and they would no longer have to worry about him, though the chase yesterday when Rapunzel had been kidnaped by the man had left It's scars on the kingdom and it was likely to leave more as the Crusaders had lost a man here and, although the one who had killed him was dead, they were not at all pleased with the king and they had warned him to watch what he was doing in the city now or they would take a reprisal against the kingdom, which left him with worry for his people. Hopefully, nobody else like him would return to the kingdom and cause any more chaos.

Unfortunately, unknown to them, the man who had caused all of the chaos yesterday was still in the city, but, at this moment in time, was having headache of his own.

"Altair, are you mad?"

In the carpentry, Salad had found out about what had happened yesterday through Altair, who had also told him that he had had to reveal why he was here, something that did not go down well with Salad.

"Salad, I had no choice. Even I was in precarious position and there was no way out," Altair explained.

"That's not the point!" Salad told him. "You revealed your intentions here and have, therefore, broken one of the creeds of the Assassins!" he placed a hand on his forehead and heaved a heavy sigh. "Oh, your Al Mualim is not here. You know what happened last time you broke the Creeds,"

Altair sighed through gritted teeth, nodding slightly. He knew very well from experience what would happen if you broke one of the Creeds and he was tired of hearing it and having to admit that he had been foolish back then, but this time it _had_ to be justifiable because it was either that or he would end up having to kill virtually every guard in the kingdom to escape and that would have caused Robert's lieutenant to flee and then he really would have failed to bring peace to the Holy Lands and put an end to the Templar threat.

"I know, Salad!" he hissed. "But you would have done the same," he told him.

Salad sighed heavily again. "Admittedly, yes I would have, but I hope that you would have learned from past experience not to make the same mistake twice,"

"Look, It's done, Salad. I agree, I did not want to tell them but I had no choice to! Besides, It's done and this time, _some _good has come out of it. I have help with me in finding Robert's lieutenant and the captain of the city has agreed to keep his guards off of my trail whilst I search the city for him or anyone who has any knowledge on him,"

Salad gave a slight nod and looked down at the ground, half-turning away from Altair so that his body was looking towards Altair's room.

"I hope your right about this," he said to him.

"Don't worry, I am," Altair reassured him. "Also, I managed to find out about this healing incarnation,"

Salad looked up at him. "Well, what is it? Where is it?" he asked.

"It's the princess," Altair answered. Salad looked puzzled though.

"What…you mean she has this cure?"

Altair shook his head. "No, she _is_ the cure,"

Salad went a little wide-eyed. "How can she be? H-how does she use it when she needs to?"

"Well," Altair began. "She sings this song that makes this kind of glow and…well, it heals. I mean, yesterday I cut my hand in the stable and she healed it and completely got rid of the scar,"

"Let me see," Salad walked over to him. Altair showed him his hand and he examined it, feeling over it and looking between his fingers. He even looked on the other side of his hand as if he was expecting what Altair was telling him to be a kind of trick, but to his amazement, it was not. "Incredible!" he gasped, looking up at Altair. "This gift really is precious," he said.

"Yes," Altair nodded. "But I said I was not going to take her back with me,"

Upon these words, the expression on Altair's face changed to shock and disbelief. What? What did he say about this healing incarnation?

"What do you mean: you are not going to take her back with you?" he asked.

"I mean, I'm leaving her here, Salad. She does not deserve to be taken away again," Altair explained.

"Again?"

"Yes. She did mention that she had been kidnapped and used for her healing power when she was young and It's only been very recent she has been returned. Plus, she is in love,"

Salad sighed in frustration. "Altair, you know we cannot allow the needs of something else to interfere with our work here. It could jeopardise everything!"

"I know that!" Altair snapped. "But I won't do it. Besides, Al Mualim said that if I could not gain the healing incarnation itself or a part of it, then I was to at least glimpse it. I have and so that part of the mission is done,"

Salad went to argue back but a sudden knock on the door stopped him. He looked uneasily towards it, expecting it to be someone like a guard or a Crusader. Altair, however, walked towards the door as if nothing was wrong and opened the small slot and looked through for a seconds before closing it and opening the door. Standing outside was Rapunzel and next to her was Eugene.

"Quick inside!" Altair told them, ushering them in. They obeyed and he closed the door behind them and locked it. "Are you two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah we're fine," Rapunzel replied but Eugene just ignored him. He was obviously still not happy with Altair for what he had done and right now the last thing he wanted to do was help him.

Rapunzel nudged him and gave him a look that urged him to at least say something and not be rude and ignore. He sighed.

"Yep, we're good," he muttered tonelessly and Rapunzel rolled her eyes.

_At least try and make an effort to forgive or befriend him _she thought, annoyed at him.

Altair, though, really could not care less if Eugene was still angry at him or not for what happened yesterday. Quite frankly, he was not really up for letting him, or Rapunzel for that matter, help them, but now they knew why he was here and if he sent them of now, then they could easily reveal why he was here and that would be the end of him here in Corona. He was just going to have to let them help him.

"Hey Salad," Rapunzel greeted him.

"Hello, Rapunzel," he replied, shaking her hand. "Hello, Eugene," he nodded at him. "Can I…offer you two a drink?" he asked.

"Oh…uh, no. We're fine," Rapunzel replied. "Thanks anyway,"

"Well, sit down at least," he insisted. "Altair needs to talk to you," he added.

They nodded and sat down behind the table. Salad walked off behind his counter to prepare the carpet rolls for today. Altair sat down behind the table opposite the two and cleared his throat.

"Did you speak to the captain this morning?" he asked.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah, he said that the guards were to be aware that several Crusaders have suddenly started wearing the hoods you have," she explained. "They didn't take very easily but…since he's the captain they have to listen to him,"

Altair nodded. "Good. At least then we'll have a bit more of a chance in finding Robert's lieutenant with ease," he replied. "What about the Crusaders?"

"He's definitely managed to convince them to stay in the city," she continued. "It was a lot harder than with the guards but those leading the Crusader detachment didn't seem in a hurry so everything is falling into place,"

"Good," Altair muttered, nodding with relief. Finally, they could begin searching for Robert's lieutenant amongst these Crusaders. The leader of this Crusader force had to know something about him and Altair would have to hunt him down and make him talk in order to find out who this lieutenant was and what he had planned.

Behind the counter, Salad picked out a newly sewed red carpet from the shelves beneath the wooden desk. As he did, a small note fell from the shelf to the floor, which he saw and he bent down and picked it up and read it.

"Altair," he called, causing him, Eugene and Rapunzel to look over at him. He held up the note. "The note from Al Mualim on your arrival here. It says you were to write to him when you had found the healing incarnation,"

In realisation, Altair slammed a hand onto his forehead and heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes, I remember!" he growled. Damn! He had completely forgotten about that. He was going to have to sort that out now before he forgot about it again and Al Mualim would not be pleased with him. He stood up. "Excuse me, you two," he said to Eugene and Rapunzel. "I have to go and sort out this little thing,"

"Take all the time in the world," Eugene muttered, though it was loud enough for Rapunzel to hear him and she shot him an annoyed look. Altair just ignored him.

"Is there a library here?" he asked Rapunzel.

She nodded. "Yes, just further down the path in the direction of the mosque and the church. You can't miss it," she explained. Just then, an idea popped in her head. "Eugene, you can show him the way,"

Both Altair and Eugene went wide-eyed upon hearing this. "What?" Eugene exclaimed, his head snapping round to look at her.

"You heard me," she told him. "Altair needs help finding the library. You can show him the way,"

He stifled a laugh. "Uh, no way, Rapunzel," he told her, standing his ground. "As much as I'm involved in this, I'm not helping him,"

"I don't need his help anyway," Altair pointed out to her, his voice also hoping that Eugene would not be coming along with him. He did not want to speak with him as much as Eugene did not want to help him, but what Rapunzel was doing was, in their opinions, a bad idea, but she still pressed on.

"No, you two _are_going to the library together," she said sternly. "I know you two don't like each other, but…" she looked back and forth between them, her eyes carrying the same stern look that told them she was being serious. "You can learn to appreciate one another. Besides, you two could help each other,"

Altair looked at Eugene, meeting his gaze for a moment before he sighed through gritted teeth. "Alright fine," he gave in. "Come, Eugene,"

Forcing out a heavy, un-approving breath through his nose, Eugene got up and walked over to the door with Altair, who unlocked it and opened it up, the daylight flooding in like water flowing through an open dam, stunning them for a moment before their eyes grew used to the glare of the sun. Rapunzel got up as well and walked past them outside.

"Where are you going?" Eugene asked her.

"To the castle. Keep an eye on the captain and see if he meets anymore Crusaders," she told them. "If he does, I'll come to the library," she began walking off down the oath back towards the castle, but stopped after a few feet and looked back over her shoulder at them. "Oh and please try not to kill to kill each other," she added, her voice growing stern once more before she walked back on towards the castle.

"I won't," Altair muttered as he and Eugene stepped outside, closing the door to the carpentry, quickly waving a goodbye to Salad as he did. "As long as Mr Rider here doesn't get in my way," he added but Eugene had heard him.

"Then don't get in mine," he growled at Altair, who just rolled his eyes, not believing Eugene's tone of voice or even what he was saying to be a threat to him. "Alright, c'mon, It's this way," he said, walking on ahead of the assassin, who followed him up the path towards the castle, Altair following close behind.


	13. What we will have to do

"Alright, there it is,"

Eugene led Altair down the path towards a large, square, brick building with two floors above the ground. A small kind of dome was visible on the roof of the building, hidden by a large kind of acroterion of a sun like that of the engraving in the courtyard with the pictures of Rapunzel and her family and Rapunzel and Eugene on the two stone walls. Windows lined the front of all three floors of the building with a small garden-like part next to it with a few benches and a small patch of grass and a few flowers and such. A few vines had grown up the side of the building from the garden side of the building but by the looks of it they had been cut recently to stop them from going up the side of a window. A smaller square, brick building was just visible behind the library with several small holes on the roof and a single open doorway on the front of it. There were no windows on this building.

The two pushed open the wooden doors that were the main entrance to the library and walked inside. The interior of the ground floor was a large square shape with several rows of bookcases lined up along the walls. One was placed against the side of a flight of stairs that led up to the next floor. A few tables were in the middle of the room where a few people were at work. Among the people in front of them were several Islamic and Christian scholars, one or two working at the same table! It was a surprise to anyone new in Corona for the present war going on at the time but not for Eugene or Altair. After all, they were from multi-cultural communities where two, sometimes three religions lived, worked and talked together.

"What exactly is it you're looking for?" Eugene asked him.

"A spare piece of paper for me to write a reply to Al Mualim on," he replied. "Where would they keep it?"

"How should I know?" Eugene shrugged his shoulders, looking away, obviously not wanting to be here. Altair just shook his head, feeling the same way about him. He was going to have to ask.

"Um, excuse me, miss," he stopped a woman who was reading a book titled: _Caesar_. "Um, do you know where this place keeps spare pieces of paper? For writing letters or messages?"

She nodded. "Yes, just up the stairs," she answered, pointing over to them.

"Thank you," Altair said and went to tell Eugene, but she stopped him.

"Wait…" she said, holding up a finger towards him. He looked back at her, meeting her curious gaze. "You look really familiar," she told him.

It was then a hint of panic began to grip Altair. Oh no! Did she…did she knew who he was from what happened yesterday? Hopefully not, but if she did then he and Eugene were going to have to flee, very quickly.

"Have you been here before?" she asked him.

"No, he hasn't," another voice intervened and Eugene walked over. "He's a friend," he told the woman.

"Oh," she raised her head slightly in understanding. "Sorry, he just looks really familiar with what happened yesterday," she admitted.

"Yes…, It's just the way he dresses where he comes from, isn't it Altair," Eugene said.

Quickly taking part in the conversation, Altair nodded. "Yes," he said. "Thank you for your help," he said to the woman.

"Oh, my pleasure," she replied and she walked off towards one of the free tables to sit down and read her book.

Altair looked at Eugene. "Thank you," he said.

Eugene just shrugged. "Let's just go," he replied.

Altair nodded and the two walked over towards the stairs and up them to the next floor, the sounds of the pounding echoing loudly as their feet hit the wood. When they reached the top, they found themselves in a long corridor with several rooms on either side. At the end of the corridor was another flight of stairs that led up to the next floor. Talking echoed from several of the rooms. A few sermons and debates were going on in some of them so the two were going to have to be careful they did not disturb anyone.

"Did she say which room it was in?" Eugene asked Altair, who shook his head.

"No, but it could be in any one of them," he replied, walking down the corridor. "We'll just have to look,"

"And hope we don't interrupt anything," Eugene muttered, though it was loud enough for Altair to hear him. "I heard if they interrupt sermons they try and curse you or something crazy stuff like that,"

Altair stifled a laugh. "I take it you believe in God," he said.

"No, not really a believer," Eugene replied.

As the two passed each room, they looked inside to see if there was anything that looked like it kept spare pieces of parchment or paper or anything to write on. They were correct about the sermons and debates though. They passed one room on the left side of the corridor where a few Muslim and Christian scholars were debating over religious texts. As they passed, they heard something about predestination or…something similar to that but it was said in Arabic.

Eventually, they found a free room on the right where a short, fat man dressed in a top and a pair of grey trousers with a small flat capped hat on his head was sitting behind a desk, writing down the messages that had come from wherever to Corona and left Corona to wherever they were going. A few pieces of paper were stacked on the end of his desk and another smaller wooden one was placed on the other side of the room just under the closed window that overlooked the houses and buildings behind the library.

"Found it," Altair muttered as he and Eugene stepped into the room. The man looked up at them as he finished writing down another message that had arrived from Venice. He greeted Eugene with a smile.

"Hello, Eugene," he said.

"Hey, Joseph," he replied. "This is my friend, Altair," he greeted him.

"How do you do," Joseph greeted him and Altair nodded in reply. "Can I help you?" he asked friendly.

"Yes, I need a bit of paper to write a message," Altair explained. "Can I borrow a piece?"

"Of course," Joseph handed him a piece. "Hang on, let me get you a quill and an inkpot," he added.

"No need," Altair stopped him and he quickly took Joseph's from his hand and walked over to the desk next to the window.

"Um…okay," Joseph replied, looking up at Eugene. "So how are you, Eugene?" he asked him.

"Fine," he replied. "It been busy?"

"Joseph shrugged. "Same as usual. Oh, that reminds me, how's the princess? I heard what happened yesterday and I was worried,"

"Oh yeah, she's fine," Eugene reassured him, glancing over towards Altair, who half turned his head to look at him. Their eyes met and his told Eugene's that they were going to have to play by what they had talked about. "We uh…got him last night when we went to search for him and freed her," he told Joseph as he looked back at him.

"Oh, that's good," he replied. He leaned in a little towards Eugene, though his large stomach almost ended up pushing the desk he was sitting behind forward and the chair squeaked a little as if it were relieved he was taking off some of the weight. "Um, Eugene, between you and me, is it true that a Crusader was responsible for what happened to the princess?" he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper.

Eugene shook his head quickly. "Oh, no, no! That's just a rumour," He went to speak more but a sudden chill made the hairs on his arms stand up and he shivered slightly. "Whoa, where did that come from?" he muttered, looking through the doorway at the opposite room to see the window overlooking the street open slightly. Oh, that explained it. "Excuse me, Joseph," he said to him as he walked out of the room and across the corridor into the next room.

This room was a little smaller than the one where Altair and Joseph were. It had only a bare desk against the left wall with an inkpot with a quill on it. The window was slightly open and, apart from the light breeze, the talking and clattering and such of the outside street was filtering into the building. Eugene walked over to the window and grabbed hold of the handle.

"Damn cold!" he muttered under his breath.

Then, just as he went to close it, he saw two people walking up the path towards the library. Stopping where he was, he studied them with his eyes and saw they were Crusaders.

"What are they doing here?" he muttered to himself.

As they approached, he could see they were in deep conversation with one another, ignoring the people who viewed them with glares and suspicion as they passed them. By the looks of the reactions from the people around them, there was obviously a rumour going around that the Crusaders may be responsible for the fiasco that happened yesterday.

Quickly, Eugene rushed from the window and back into the room across the corridor where Joseph was standing next to the window, revealing his over-extended stomach under his top, which looked like it was full to bursting, with an eagle standing on the windowsill. Altair was standing next to him.

"Are you sure he will be able to find Masyaf?" Altair asked Joseph.

"Like finding water along a coastal area," he replied as he put the piece of paper, which had been rolled up, in some kind of cylinder object attached to the legs of the eagle. The creature jumped back from the window and spread It's wings and flew off into the air and away over the town towards the sea. Watching it go was an amazing thing to see despite this creature being a predator.

"Altair!" Eugene exclaimed as he ran into the room, skidding to a halt in the doorway.

"What is it, Eugene?" Altair asked him.

"Two Crusaders coming up the path," Eugene told him.

Upon hearing these words, Altair ran out of the room, past Eugene into the next room and over to the window.

"Is everything alright, Eugene?" Joseph asked.

"Y-yeah, everything's fine," Eugene reassured him. "Thanks anyway, Joseph," he added and he rushed over to the window. Joseph just shrugged and walked back over to the desk to continue with his work.

As Eugene reached the window, Altair pulled him back a little from it so as not to be seen by the Crusaders as they walked underneath them. He had seen one of them and recognized him instantly. The man on the right was blonde haired and he had seen his face just as they walked under the window of the building. He was the soldier who had been talking to the Crusader, who he had killed yesterday, in the shop. The other man though was a new face to him. He was about the same height as the blonde haired man but with black hair, blue eyes and had a small scar down his chin that went up the side of his face from where the edge of a sword in the Holy Lands had struck him, only just narrowly avoiding killing him. Both of them had their hands on their swords, probably expecting a sudden attack like what had happened to their comrade yesterday so they wanted to be ready for this person, or persons, if they tried to fight them.

Altair withdrew when they came near the window so they did not look up and see him and end up causing another fiasco. The two waited for a few moments until Altair stepped forward back over to the window and looked out to see the two Crusaders walking up the path towards the castle. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief. They were not coming in here so they were safe for now.

"D'you think they are important?" Eugene asked.

"Must be if they are heading to the castle," Altair replied curiously. "Come, let's follow them,"

"Best get back downstairs quick then if we're gonna do that," Eugene pointed out lowly, thinking that by the time they got downstairs and outside, the Crusaders would be gone.

"No need," Altair corrected him matter-of-factly and before Eugene could ask why there was to be no need, Altair opened the window and climbed out of it, grabbing the windowsill and lowering himself down with ease. Eugene watched him do this with amazement.

"Aren't you scared?" he asked him.

"No, I've done this hundreds of times before," Altair replied. "Come if we want to catch up to them,"

He released his grip on the windowsill and fell to the ground about ten feet below him, his feet hitting the paving stones hard but he suffered no injury. Eugene hesitated for a moment, debating whether this was such a good idea, but he decided it was best to do it and he pulled himself out of the window, turning himself over as he did, and dangled in mid-air for a moment before releasing his grip. For a moment, he was falling through the air until his feet impacted on the stone ground. The feeling of the impact flared up his feet and ankles and he winced, gritting his teeth. A few people walking by gave them looks as if to say: _"Are they mad?"_

"Ow!" he hissed. "That hurt!" he looked at Altair, who just looked at him as if he had been expecting this. "I'm surprised that didn't hurt you," he commented appreciatively.

"You get used to it after so many times," he replied. He looked back up the path and saw that the Crusaders were moving on quickly. They were at least lucky they were wearing white clothing and had swords or they would be almost impossible to find. "C'mon, we have to follow them," he urged Eugene and moved on after them.

"Right behind ya!" Eugene whispered as he struggled to move for a moment before his feet regained feeling and he ran off after Altair.

**Meanwhile, outside the castle**

Rapunzel approached the enormous castle entrance. It was a huge archway with a large wooden door that had been split in two and could open both outwards and inwards. A few guards were standing nearby, talking to one another and two more were overlooking the city from where they were standing on the top of the gateway. Following the fiasco yesterday, the guards had been told to be on alert in case anything happened again. Though they had been reassured that the man who had kidnapped Rapunzel was dead, they were still cautious, especially as they too had been affected by the rumours that the Crusaders were possibly responsible for what had happened yesterday.

Next to the entrance to the castle was a small orchard in a garden and a squeak from one of the nearby trees stopped her. She looked over and saw a creature form on the bark of one of the trees. It was Pascal. He jumped down from the tree onto the ground and ran across to her. She chuckled and knelt down, holding out her hand for him.

"Hey Pascal!" she greeted happily as he jumped on her arm and climbed up it to her shoulder. "You miss me?"

He nodded with a squeak. Ever since the drama in the stable, he had wanted to be with her more. He was always very protective of her. He had been long before she had returned here. Now he wanted to be with her again to make sure she was safe.

"Stay on alert, soldier," a voice from behind said. Rapunzel and Pascal looked behind them to see the captain emerge from a small gap between the gates and stop to talk to the soldiers. Quickly, so as not to draw attention, Rapunzel walked off to the orchard and stopped and knelt down there to look as if she was doing something, waiting for the captain to walk on. She heard him say something else to the soldiers outside the gate before he walked on down the path into the city. After a second, she slowly turned her head just in time to see him disappear into the streets.

"Wonder where he's off to?" she muttered to herself as she stood up. She looked at Pascal, who just shrugged his shoulders, also having no idea of where the captain could be going to. "Let's follow him," Rapunzel said and she walked out of the orchard and down the street.

She had only walked about twenty feet when she suddenly stopped and hid behind the corner of a brick wall that stuck out from a building, poking her head out from behind it to see the captain stop next to a building that was next to a large kind of courtyard, separating it from the rest of the row of buildings. Two men in white uniforms approached him. Crusaders.

_What is he doing with them? _Rapunzel thought curiously.

She and Pascal watched as they talked for a moment before the captain led them into a courtyard, disappearing behind the brick wall next to the entrance to it. Her curiousness overtook her, determined to hear what they were talking about but as she began to move back over to the courtyard entrance…

"Rapunzel!"

The voice stopped her in the middle of the street and she looked to where it was coming from to see Altair and Eugene running up to her.

"Guys!" she exclaimed, running up to them.

"Are you alright, what are you doing here?" Eugene asked her.

"I just saw the captain go into that courtyard with two Crusaders," she told them, nodding towards the courtyard.

"Was one of them blonde haired and the other black haired?" Altair asked her and she nodded. He looked at Eugene. "Those are the ones we've just seen," he said to Eugene, who nodded in agreement.

"What you've just seen them?" Rapunzel asked, a little aghast.

Altair nodded. "Just as we were about to leave the library, Eugene called me over to a window on the second floor and we saw them pass," he looked at the courtyard as if he could see through the brick wall to where three were. "I recognize one of them," he muttered. A pause hung in the air for a moment as the three debated how they were going to find out what was going on with the captain and the Crusaders. Finally, Altair broke the silence. "Come," he said and ran over to the courtyard, pressing himself against the brick wall just next to the entrance. Eugene and Rapunzel followed.

When Altair reached the entrance, he poked his head around to look into the courtyard. It was small and square and was between two brick buildings and a wooden rectangular building at the end opposite the entrance. A large open door was on the front of the building facing the entrance with a few windows to the right of it on the wall. Renovation work must have been going on here because a ladder was placed against the side of the rectangular building to the left building entrance and there were several crates scattered about, some on a cart parked in the bottom right corner of the courtyard, others placed in piles. At the moment, it was empty so the only place for them to go was inside the rectangular building.

Cautiously, Altair, Eugene and Rapunzel crept into the courtyard, moving over towards the rectangular building, keeping low and moving quietly in case those inside the building looked out into the courtyard and saw them or heard them. As they neared the building, they heard talking coming from inside it. Three different voices, among them captain's which they recognized. Altair also recognized the voice of the blonde haired man, having heard him the day before.

"How do we hear them?" Eugene whispered to him.

Altair looked around the courtyard for a moment, trying to answer his question. Could they hide in the building? Wait, no! If they tried to do that they might be seen as they did not know where abouts in the building the three were talking. What about under the windows? Oh wait, no, not there either! They'll be seen as soon as they leave the building? What about…his eyes moved towards the ladder placed against the building.

"Up there," Altair replied, pointing to the ladder. He, keeping low, sprinted over to it, Eugene and Rapunzel, who placed a hand on Pascal to stop him from falling off her shoulder as she moved, close behind him. When they reached the ladder, the crept up it as quietly as possible, desperately trying not to shake it or cause it to snap or even make any noise at all as they reached the roof. When they were all on the roof, they all laid down and moved across it towards a small hole in the roof about ten feet down from the entrance to the building, stopping just inches from it.

"Look, I've told you two already, the man who did the killing and the kidnapping is dead!" they heard the captain. "Your perfectly safe here!"

"Is that so?" another voice asked sarcastically. "Then you be'er explain why we were glared at and everyone thought we were some kind of killers,"

"Wait here," he said to Eugene and Rapunzel, but he quickly stopped when he noticed Pascal on her shoulder. "Um…Rapunzel, why do have a chameleon on your shoulder?"

"His name's Pascal," she whispered back.

Pascal crawled up onto her head and gave a slight glare to Altair, eyeing him dangerously. Altair just looked at him dumbfounded, wondering why he was looking at him like this.

"Why is he looking at me like that?" he asked.

"Probably because of when you knocked out Rapunzel yesterday," Eugene answered.

"Oh, well…he doesn't have anything to fear from me now," Altair said to him.

"Pascal," Rapunzel said, and he looked back at her. "C'mon, he's a friend now," she told him.

Pascal looked back at Altair and pointed two fingers up at his eyes and then at Altair, meaning: _I'll be watching you _and crawled back over Rapunzel's head to her shoulder and sat there.

"Don't worry," she reassured Altair as he moved forward a little more to the edge of the hole. "He'll get used to you eventually,"

"I'm sure I'll be okay if he doesn't, Rapunzel," he muttered back and stopped almost right at the very edge of the hole and looked down into the building. Eugene and Rapunzel pulled themselves up either side of him and also looked in.

From where they were they could see the captain leaning against a wooden panel that came down from the ceiling to the ground. In front of him, with their backs to the door, were the two Crusaders. A look of annoyance was on the captain's face, meaning that he was not happy with the way this conversation with the Crusaders was going. It was possible they felt exactly the same way.

"Look, I've told you many times now, I can't explain for the rumours going around the city," the captain said to the Crusaders.

The black haired man stifled a laugh, folding his arms. "Well you're the captain, ya should be," he replied.

"Who's to say we won't get attacked in this city by the people because they think we're the ones who tried to kidnap the princess?" the blonde haired man added.

The captain heaved a heavy sigh. "Look, don't worry," he told them, trying to sound reassuring but his voice was dripping with frustration. "Like I've told you, I can't stop the rumours, but the people won't attack you. Plus, as you've no doubt heard, the man who did the kidnapping is dead,"

"What if 'e's got any associates?" the black haired man pointed out.

"Then I'm sure they would have left by now," the captain told him, though his voice was actually having to lie for there was an associate of Altair here. Possibly even more, and maybe _he _could even be counted as one of them. "Besides, he shouldn't have. There was only one of him here and taking part in the kidnapping," he lied.

The black haired man huffed, not sounding convinced but he took his word. "Alright," he said after a few moments pause. "I'll take ya word for it. But I'll warn ya, if we get attacked, we won't 'esitate to hold ya responsible!" he warned the captain. "C'mon, Harry, let's go,"

"Where are you two going?" the captain asked.

"Oh we have to meet…um, an important friend of ours here in the city," the blonde haired man replied. "Just some business,"

"Yeah, and one you don't need to know of," the black haired man butted in, adding a low and dangerous sounding tone on his voice to the captain.

The two left, walking out across the courtyard and back out into the streets, turning left and disappearing from sight behind the brick wall and the buildings. A second later, the captain emerged from the building, heaving another heavy sigh in frustration as he shut the door to the building. Oh, this was getting very tiring! He was fed up with these bastard Crusaders harassing him and viewing the entire city with suspicion as if it was going to suddenly turn on them. It would not of course but trying to tell that to them was going to be a momentous task, one that he [the captain] doubted very much would work.

As he went to walk off, he was stopped by the sound of movement on the top of the building. He rolled his eyes.

"Alright, you three can come out now," he said, turning to face them.

They crawled over to the edge of the building. Rapunzel and Eugene climbed down the ladder whilst Altair jumped down from the building, landing in front of the captain.

"You heard us?" Altair asked.

The captain nodded. "When I was talking to them, I thought I heard some footsteps on the roof and I saw the shadow of one of you pass by the door," he told him. "Had a feeling it would be you three. The only ones who really are watching the Crusaders more than the guards or the people are,"

"What was that all about anyway?" Rapunzel asked as she and Eugene walked over.

"Oh, they were getting ratty about them being glared at or everyone viewing them with suspicion wherever they went," he explained. He sighed again and looked over at the courtyard entrance as if he was watching them go again. "I hate those Crusaders so much!" he growled, clenching one of his fists. "I'll be so glad when they go,"

_I think everyone would _Altair agreed. "Did they say or give a hint of who this…um, 'important friend' of theirs was?" he asked the captain, who shook his head.

"Nah, they won't tell anyone," he replied. "Geoffrey likes to keep this between him and Harry,"

"Which one is which?" Eugene asked.

"The black haired one is Geoffrey and the blonde haired one is Harry, Rider," the captain answered. He looked back at Altair. "So what are you going to do?" he asked him.

"We'll have to try and capture him and see what he knows," he replied. "Do you know his routine in the city or anything?"

The captain shook his head. "No. I do know that he spends most of his time in the Crusader camp and that he comes into the city every so often, but what he does…" he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know,"

"Then we'll have to find that out ourselves," Altair turned to Eugene. "Eugene, we'll have to scour the city. Try and find out anything from anybody on what he does and where he goes in the city,"

Eugene nodded. "Right, we best get started then,"

"Hey wait, what about me?" Rapunzel piped up. "I can help you guys,"

"Rapunzel, are you sure that's a good idea?" Eugene asked her, a little concerned. "I mean, what if this time, the Crusaders do try and kidnap you or you get yourself into danger?"

She rolled her eyes. "Eugene, I can look after myself," she reassured him. "Besides, I doubt the Crusaders will make off with me. Virtually the whole city and all the guards hate them. Plus, there's more guards on the bridge so they'll have to get through them if they want to get out of here,"

"She's right, Eugene," Altair added. "Don't worry, they won't make with her anyway after what happened yesterday. They'll be too busy trying to watch themselves,"

Eugene sighed. "Alright," he replied. "Before we go, where will we meet up and when?" he asked.

"Salad's in a few hours," Altair answered. "Best get started," and they left the courtyard. The captain walked out after them.

"Good luck you three," he said to them. They raised their hands to say thanks in reply as they went off and the captain turned and walked back up towards the castle.


	14. Gaining information

Searching Corona for any lead on the leader of the Crusaders was not going an easy thing to do. Altair was having to try and blend in and act like a monk or a scholar so no one in the city, especially the Crusaders, would suspect him of being the one who kidnapped Rapunzel. It was working so far but people were still muttering and talking about him behind his back so he was going to have to stay on his guard and just hope for the best.

Flynn and Rapunzel were also having difficulties. He was being viewed with slight apprehension by some of the people in the city because of the rumour that he had led a man who looked almost exactly like the one who had tried to kidnap Rapunzel to the library and had been seen heading off towards the castle with him. Though many dismissed this and believed this was a scholar or a monk, many just wanted to keep an eye on him to see if he was telling the truth or not.

Rapunzel, meanwhile, was being watched as if she was a high security prisoner, though not because there was fear she would become bad, but because the people feared for her safety. Virtually everywhere she had gone so far around the city, people had watched her every move as if they feared that someone would try and grab her again. Even about fifteen feet behind her there were two soldiers tailing her like guard dogs. It seems that the city was literally trying to shield her from anyone they might deemed a threat.

All of these difficulties were beginning to put a strain on the three and their mission to find out anything about this lieutenant of Robert's and also how they would be able to stop him from taking Rapunzel away, but there was little they could do about it. They would just have to find a way around it and continue on with their job to find out anything about him.

**Near the market**

The market today was packed busy with shoppers, buyers, traders and such. A new shipment of pottery and spices coming in from the Holy Lands had arrived here and as these were considered top class, many people were looking forward to them being brought here. One man was bargaining with a woman for several small boxes of pots for her daughter. Another was calling out for people to come and taste the spices and see what they thought of them. Money was flowing in all ways so it was a good day for traders.

Among the crowd, Altair worked his way through. The noise of people talking, clattering of objects or the thudding of boxes filled the air, making it difficult for him to hear anything, only making his mission more difficult. At least he was not being watched as much at the moment. Luckily, though, his life in the Assassin's Creed had something to help him get through this.

Gently pushing his way through the crowd, he moved over to a small gap between a stall and the wall of a building and turned to face them. Breathing in deeply, his mind clicked into eagle sense and he began to scan the crowd like an eagle would do when it was scanning the horizon with It's amazing pin-point eyesight for prey. This was similar to what Altair was doing now, but this time the prey he sought was not to kill, but to use them to find even better prey.

As his eyes scanned the crowd, several guards, whom through his eagle vision he saw as red, stood at the edge of the crowd near a pathway, looking through the crowd for a hooded man they had seen a moment ago in the street. Damn! Looks like these two guards had decided to look for him and ignore the orders of their captain. Altair saw them through the moving people and decided it was best to move on. As he went to disappear into the crowd, he quickly glanced up again for one more look to see if there was anyone here. No there was no-wait!

He froze and looked back up. Squinting a little, he looked through the crowd at two people standing near the side of a stall that was selling holy things such as holy water, crosses etc. and who were engaged in conversation. If it had not been that one of them, a medium height man with brown hair and dressed in a grey top and trousers and with brown boots on, was looking around occasionally in case someone might be watching him and his friend, who was slightly taller and had blonde hair and was dressed in a cream coloured top and grey trousers with small shoes on, Altair would have just passed them off as normal people, but what the man was doing, and that his eagle vision was making them appear a shade of white to him, drew him to them. He had found something that may help him in his mission. Now he had to get to them.

_Without alerting those guards _he mentally added as he looked at them to see them looking about in the crowd still. How was he going to get past them?

Then, as if on cue and in response to his plea, a group of white figures in robes began to move in his direction. Looking at them, Altair saw they were Christian women in white hoods and their heads bent forward in pray. Yes! Now was his chance to get close to the two men. He would have to be quick if he was to fool the guards but that would not be a huge problem, if even it would be one at all, he had done this many times, but experience had taught him never to let his guard down. Even experienced assassins like him could easily be found out when trying to blend in with the crowd so he was going to have be quick nonetheless.

As the women neared him, he took a step forward, looking for a gap between them for him to enter the group and quickly join them in a fake pray in order to evade the eyes of the guards. He found one as the woman on the front moved forward a little too quickly for the others and became separated, though the other three did not seem to notice the leader moving on ahead of them. Altair took the chance and moved in front of them, quickly bending his head forward a little to look as if he was praying and moved on with them, quickly joining up with the first Christian women. As they moved on, he quickly glanced over his shoulder and saw, through a small gap in the crowd, that the two guards were still searching the faces of the crowd. He breathed a light and quiet sigh of relief. He had thwarted them. Now all he had to do was get close to the two men and try and hear what they were saying.

The group moved through the crowd further on into the market. As they went, Altair glanced up to see them gradually getting closer to the two men, but even though they were getting close to them, the women were moving on down the market towards a small church, which Altair saw by looking ahead of him. He was going to have to break out of this group, but he had to do it discretely in case he inadvertently attracted their attention and also that of the guards.

Slowly, as the group moved further down the market path, he moved out of the group through a gap between the front woman and the woman to his left, managing to manoeuvre himself around them and into the crowd, moving steadily towards the two men. The movement and noise of the crowd, however, stopped him from hearing them so he pushed his way to the building they were standing against and turned his back to them and bent his head forward to resume his praying motion, though his ears were still open and he listened carefully to the two men as they spoke.

"Can't believe that bastard did that to you," the brown haired man said to the blonde haired man, who nodded.

"Yeah, but he's a Crusader and you know what they're like," he replied. "You criticise 'em or take the mickey out of 'em and they act as if you're a blasphemous person," he sighed. "Don't know why the King has to put up with 'em,"

"Well, we are in Italy and the Pope loves these soldiers so he can't really do anything about them,"

The blonde haired man nodded. "Yeah I suppose," he sighed in annoyance. "Not looking forward this afternoon though,"

"Why?"

"That leader of those Crusaders is coming through 'ere later on and I'll be working late and the market'll be almost empty by then. Apparently, he harasses people,"

"Why don't you report him?"

"Well, like you said, can't really do anything about 'em. At least I can be thankful he only spends some time here before he goes off,"

"Yeah. Anyway, best be going. Got a bit of shopping to do,"

"Alright see ya,"

The two men left. Altair smiled to himself a little in gladness. So Geoffrey comes through here every day. That was good. He had the location of him, but there were two more questions that would need to be answered and they were when he would be coming through here and if he would be doing so alone?

"I wonder how Eugene and Rapunzel are doing?" he muttered to himself at the thought.

**Meanwhile, near the library**

Eugene quietly snuck towards a small alleyway between two buildings opposite from the library. He had been searching around the library for anyone who may have some important information after separating from Altair and Rapunzel at the library. Where they were now he did not know but he hoped they would were having as much luck as him.

He was sneaking towards the alleyway because he had seen two Crusaders enter it when there were few people in the street. Obviously, they knew something and even though there was no one listening to them, but they were not going to take any risks. There were less prying eyes and ears in an alleyway.

Eugene stopped near the side of the alleyway and pressed his back towards the wall of the building behind him and moved his head a little nearer to the corner of the alleyway, listening in to what the Crusaders were saying.

"What is the commander doing commin' into this city every bloody day!" he heard one of them groan. "Waste's his time and he's riskin' his life as well after what happened,"

"Ya know what he's like," the other replied in an reluctant, but truthful voice in having to accept the way their commander was. "Him and Harry are always tryin' to act like the hardest,"

The other Crusader scoffed. "Hardest? Never like that when they were at Assaf! Berks legged it. Surprised King Richard didn't have 'em killed!"

"They should have been! They waste our talent and our little time off we have here by having us guard 'em almost wherever they go,"

"Apart from a few days ago. They insisted they came here alone and didn't tell us why," a pause hung in the air for a moment. "I reckon they're up to something," the Crusader whispered.

"Yeah, I bet they are," the other replied. "But we can't ask 'em. Ya know how they'll react. Why don't we get those who go with him today when he goes into the market to ask him why they were here?"

"We could do, but I doubt It'll work. He'll probably have 'em killed or beaten up and there's no doubt they'll squeal and tell him we asked 'em to ask him,"

As they talked, Eugene moved his head away from the corner, a small smile of success coming onto his face. So this Crusader commander came here with bodyguards. That was going to be invaluable for when they were to start going after him, but he did not know where he would be and when. Maybe Altair and/or Rapunzel had found that out. He would have to ask them.

Just then, the sound of marching feet coming closer snapped him back into reality. They were coming back up the pathway. Oh no! What was he to do? What was he to do?

The two Crusaders emerged from the alleyway back into the sunlight that beamed down from the sky onto the island. They were going to have to head back to the camp soon and try and find out who would be going with Geoffrey into the city later on and see if they could get them to see why their commander had come into the city days ago.

Just then, movement from their left caught their eyes and they looked to see a Eugene leaning against the building with one foot on the ground and the other, which was barefoot, resting on top of the knee of that one, his hands holding the boot that had been on the barefoot. He shook it slightly and some pebbles, which he had put in there, unbeknownst to the Crusaders, fell out onto the ground.

"There we go," he muttered to himself in a relived manner. As he went to put the boot back on his foot, he saw the two Crusaders staring at him with a look of displeasure. He held up his hand. "Hey guys," he greeted friendly.

They just shook their heads, believing he was an idiot to let that happen to him, and walked off back down the path in the direction of the bridge. When they were gone, Eugene put his boot back on, breathing a quiet sigh of relief.

_That was a close one _he mentally said to himself.

**At the dockyard**

"Thanks, Vladimir,"

Rapunzel hoisted herself up the side of the end building near the stable onto the roof as her large muscular friend, who was about 6ft 5, had huge pulsating muscles and was wearing a kind of rag top with the sleeves cut off and a pair of trousers, that looked to be on the verge of splitting from the sheer size of this man, and a pair of boots and had a large Viking-like helmet on his head, hoisted her up on his shoulders. She grabbed the side of the roof and pulled herself up onto it. Pascal held on tightly to her shoulders so he would not fall off.

"It's okay, Rapunzel," he replied.

She nodded. "Good luck with unicorn display later on," she told him.

"Thanks," and he walked off back into the street.

Keeping low, Rapunzel crawled across the rooftops towards a small, but wide chimney that was big enough to conceal here. She was here because she had seen three Crusaders, one of them the blonde haired Crusader who they had seen talking with the captain earlier, walk behind here. She had wanted to try and listen in to them, but it was going to be difficult with the guards watching her every move. She had managed to lose them at the courtyard at the end, but there was a chance they would start looking everywhere and that someone who had seen her with Vladimir would tell them. She would have to be quick.

As she neared the chimney, the sound of talking from below reached her ears. It was the Crusaders. They were standing a little out from the wall of the building directly below where the chimney was and they would easily see her if she tried to listen in by staying where she was.

"Pascal," she whispered to her chameleon friend sitting on her shoulder. "Can you see if It's a good vantage point?" she asked.

He nodded and crawled off her and across the roof to the chimney and looked out from behind it. He could hear them clearly as they were close enough. He nodded to Rapunzel to say: _"It's good,"_ and she crawled over as quietly and quickly as she could, holding her breath a little when she reached the chimney as if fearing they had seen her. One second passed. Two seconds. No, she was fine. She put her head near the corner of the chimney and tried as best she could to listen into the Crusaders. Pascal crawled onto her head and did the same, listening intently to what they had to say.

"Is there even any point in us guarding him?" she heard one, one of the other two with the blonde haired soldier, of them ask.

"Yeah," the other piped up. "Why doesn't he just stay in the camp? It's not like the damn assassin or killer is gonna come and get him!"

"Well, as I've told you, he has to come into the city on regular business with an important friend," the blonde haired Crusader replied.

"What sort of business is it?" the first of the two Crusaders asked.

"Nothing that will interest you,"

"Ah now c'mon, sir," the second of the two Crusaders said. "You are our second in command here. We do have a righty to know why Geoffrey's coming into the city every now and then,"

"Well, It's important and it has to be confidential," the blonde haired Crusader was sounding like he was trying to weed his way out of that one. "Now, you two will have to stand guard with him later and escort him back. You know how paranoid he'll get,"

One of the two Crusaders scoffed. "Why? Ya heard what the guards said. They got the guy who killed one of our men and kidnapped the princess, so what's there to worry about?"

"Well the one killed was an associate of men and Geoffrey, and again you will not know why. Now, I've given you your order for later on today in the evening and you'll follow them. Understand?"

Two sighs filled the air. "Yes, sir," the tow Crusaders said in unison.

"Good. Right, let's get back to camp. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this place as well as Geoffrey is,"

The three left, turning the corner back onto the street and off towards the bridge. Rapunzel sat up from behind the chimney when they were gone, processing what she had heard. So he had guards and came into the city in the afternoon. That was going to be useful for when they went after Geoffrey. Hopefully, Eugene and Altair had managed to find out where he would be going in the city.

"Okay now," Rapunzel muttered to herself, realising something. She looked around and saw that she had a little flaw in her plan. "How do we get down?" she asked herself.

Just then, a slight thud made her look over her shoulder to see the end of a ladder on the other side of the roof facing the street. It began to shake slightly and she heard a voice say: "Let's see if the princess is up here," which mean only one thing. Guards!

"Oh no!" she gasped silently and she and Pascal began to look around frantically for a way off the roof. They were going to have to be quick or they would be taken back up to the castle if the guards caught them up here.

_What do we do? _her mind asked her frantically.

Pascal prodded her on the head with his tail and pointed down at the ground near the end of the roof. She looked and saw it was a cart of hay he was pointing at. Her eye lit up with hope. Yes, that was going to be perfect.

Quickly and keeping low, she crawled over to the end of the roof and, grabbing Pascal and clutching him tightly in her hand and taking a deep breath, she jumped from the roof onto the haystack. The cart shook slightly as she landed within, sending the hay flying into the air and onto the ground. She buried herself as much as she could under what was left of it kept as still as possible.

Voices a second later made her hold her breath in fear and caused her heart to beat madly like a drum against her chest as if it were trying to break out of it.

"You see anything?" one voice asked.

"Nah," another replied. "She's not up here,"

"Strange, I thought someone said they saw her being hoisted up onto the roof,"

"Must have been playing a joke on us,"

"Yeah maybe,"

The sounds of footsteps from above echoed down for a few moments until they died away. When they were gone, Rapunzel pulled herself out of the cart of hay, brushing it off her.

"Nice one, Pascal," she thanked him. He replied with a squeak. "Now let's head back to Salad's and wait for Eugene and Altair," and with that she headed off back into the direction of the carpentry.


	15. Formulating a plan

**One hour later**

The day on Corona was beginning to draw to an end. To the west, the sky was beginning to turn an array of colours comprising of orange, gold and red. A light breeze began to blow through the air, coming in from the east where the sky would start to turn darker in a few more hours. Soon the night would overtake the world and fill the sky with thousands upon thousands of stars that would continue to keep light shining on the world until the next day arrived. Evenings here were really beautiful as some watched the sun set behind the sea as if it were dropping into it like it would do in Ancient Greek mythology. Corona really was a great place to witness these kinds of things.

Within Salad's carpentry, though, the mood was far from happy in the witnessing of sunsets. Salad was leaning against his counter with his curled fist placed in front of his mouth, his prayer rug fold up on the counter next to him, having just completed it. Rapunzel was sitting behind the table in the middle of the room with Pascal on her shoulder. She was staring down at the table, lost in thought, waiting patiently for Eugene and Altair to return. They had agreed to meet back here when they were done with their search but they had had a long time since they had told each other that and still neither of the two were back.

When she had gotten back to Salad's carpentry, she had told him what he she had heard and then asked him if Eugene or Altair had come back looking for her. When he told her they had not, she began to worry for in fear that they had been caught by the Crusaders, or by the guards. She had wanted to go out to find them, but Salad had convinced her not to because the guards and Crusaders might see her and that would only raise more suspicion against them. It was something Rapunzel did not like doing, and this entire mission was starting to take It's toll on her because she had not told her parents about it. Usually, she would tell them anything if she had a problem, but this time she could not do that. Next to her promising Altair that she would not tell anyone about him, she was just far too involved and was even more scared of what might happen if she did let anyone else, including her parents, know of this. She would just have to hope that it all ended well and soon.

As the two sat, silence hanging over them like a cloud, a sudden knock at the door caused her to turn around so quickly she felt her neck click. Wincing slightly, she got up and walked over to the door, stopping when she reached it and pulling open the slot. Salad rushed over alongside her.

"Who's there?" she asked cautiously.

"Rapunzel, It's us. Eugene and Altair," came Eugene's voice.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she closed the clot and helped Salad unlock the door and opened it.

"Quick, in!" Salad urged them, pulling them in. Rapunzel shut the door and locked it up and closed the slot before turning to them.

"Did you guys have any luck?" she asked them.

"Yes," Altair replied. "I managed to find some good information, as has Eugene as well. What about you?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, me and Pascal overheard that Harry guy we saw talking to the captain earlier talking to two Crusaders near the docks," she explained.

"Now we just need to formulate a plan on how to get him," Eugene piped up.

"Don't worry," Altair reassured him. "I might have one. Salad, do you have a map of the city?"

"Yes, one moment," he replied. He rushed behind his counter and began to rifle through what was there, pulling out boxes and pieces of parchment onto the floor. After a few moments, he stood back up with a rolled up parchment in his hand. "Found it," he said. He walked back around his counter to the table and rolled it out, showing them a detailed map of the island kingdom. "This should help," he said.

"Thank you," Altair said to him as they knelt down around it. "Okay, Eugene, what did you find out?" he asked him.

"I overheard two Crusaders, who snuck into an alleyway, say that this Geoffrey guy comes into Corona every day at around about the late afternoon time," he explained. "Though where abouts he goes, I dunno,"

"Don't worry, I've got that," Altair looked at Rapunzel. "What did you find out Rapunzel?" he asked her.

"Next to what Eugene said, me and Pascal found out he comes in with two guards," she explained. "They didn't sound very eager to do that though. I overheard them say to this Harry guy that they don't really like Geoffrey,"

"Maybe killing him will be doing them a favour," Salad muttered.

"It will be for the captain," Eugene told him. "He hates the Crusaders,"

"And I don't blame him," Altair piped up. "Okay. With what you two have found out, I managed to overhear two people say he comes into the market," he pointed at an area of the map near the eastern side of the kingdom. "And from what I've heard he harasses people as well and the market will be empty so-"

"-a guy with two guards around him shouldn't be too difficult to find unless you're a complete idiot," Eugene finished the sentence. Altair nodded.

"So how are we going to catch him?" Rapunzel asked.

"This is how," Altair replied and he explained the plan to them from their roles right down to the very smallest detail of it. It took only a few minutes, as did the plans of attack for the Assassins Creed, but it would be good enough with few people about.

"What if he makes a run for it?" Eugene pointed out.

"Then we'll just have to try and corner him," Altair replied. "Now, any questions?" he asked.

"Yeah, do I have to my role?" she asked, not in a way that sounded like she did not want to take part, but she sounded like she could do better than what Altair had given her.

Altair nodded. "You're the smallest out of us Rapunzel, and plus the guards and the city trust you in the street so you'll need to keep an eye out for us whilst we go after him,"

"Right, but what if he escapes over the bridge?" she asked.

"Don't worry, he won't," Altair reassured her firmly.

She rolled her eyes. _Not really the answer I was looking for _she mentally told herself, a little annoyed at his arrogance to any part that might go wrong.

"When will you begin?" Salad asked them.

Altair answered by getting up and rushing over to the room he was staying in and looking out of the window at the sky. The sun was still high in the air but was lower than it had been an hour ago. He walked back over to the table.

"About another hour or so," he told them. "It'll be enough time for the market to clear and for Geoffrey to enter with his guards,"


	16. Finding out the information

**Later that day**

The once busy market streets of Corona's east side were now mostly empty. Only a few people remained and they were mostly stall keepers and were dismantling them and taking what they had had on sale today back to their houses or putting onto waiting carts for them to take home and leave for tomorrow. Some were talking as they put their things away, others remained quiet as they hurried to pack up and head home. High above the city, the now orange coloured sun was beginning to set towards the distant sea to the west in the direction of Venice. Far off to the east, the sky was starting to turn slightly dark from where the night was beginning to encroach over the world. Soon it would do, but not fully as the thousands of stars would fill the air like a lamp to keep the world in light until the sun returned.

In the market streets, Eugene and Altair stood in alleyway, facing each other with their backs resting against the walls of the buildings, waiting patiently for the signal from Rapunzel and Pascal. Eugene glanced out of the alleyway down the street to see if there was any sign of Geoffrey or his two guards. There was not. He sighed nervously and moved back behind the corner into the alleyway.

"Don't look so nervous," Altair reassured him in an almost toneless.

"I can't help but feel nothing but nervous," Eugene replied. His feet began to tap the ground lightly. Anyone looking at him now would just think he was making up some random musical tone to pass the time but Altair knew he was doing it because he was nervous. He just wanted it to be over and done with because waiting here to catch, and probably even kill, someone who was armed and knew how to fight was really nerve-racking.

"Never let it get to you too strongly," Altair said to him. "And don't try and forcefully calm yourself down .It only makes it worse,"

Eugene gave him a puzzled look. "Seriously, where do you learn all this?" he asked him.

"Mostly from my master," he replied. He shifted a little as he leant against the wall, putting himself in a more comfortable position. "He is one of those people who uses words to a good effect, and he does it very well,"

Eugene gave a slight laugh. "You could end up being like him," he commented.

Altair stifled a laugh. "Sometimes that does sound very good, others not very," he muttered lowly.

Silence fell between them for a moment as a cool breeze swept over them. The sun continued to set further to the west, meaning the end of the day was gradually approaching.

"So what does your Creed actually do, Altair?" Eugene asked him, though whether out of curiosity or just something to talk about was unclear to tell.

Altair coughed. "I cannot tell you everything, Eugene," he replied. "It would go against the Creed of my group, but…" he paused for a moment, wondering slightly if this was right. Then again, why would it not be? After all, Eugene and Rapunzel were helping him. "…if you want to know, and to put a long explanation short, we fight for peace in the Holy Lands against the Templars,"

Eugene nodded slightly, taking that in. "And has it ever worked?" he asked.

Altair shook his head slightly. "I wish it did," he answered lowly. "But as long as this war between the Crusaders and the Saracens goes on, it never will work, but…that does not stop us from trying,"

"You guys must be really dedicated to be stuck to something like that,"

Altair nodded. "We are. It is not something we enjoy, but if it means to bring peace and stability, then it must be done. I mean, why else would I be here. Getting Robert's lieutenant will ultimately bring peace to the Holy Lands,"

"Why exactly are you after him though? I mean; what exactly has he done to make you guys want to kill him?"

"I can't tell you that,"

"Oh, okay,"

Silence filled the air between them once again, only to be penetrated when Eugene resumed tapping his feet on the ground, though they were a little calmer than before. He had decided to take Altair's advice and calm down, though not too forcefully, just gradually thinking of other things and not about this mission.

Altair heaved a little sigh of frustration. "Come on, Geoffrey," he growled to himself. "Show yourself!"

**Meanwhile, further down the market**

On the rooftop of a nearby house that was across from the church at the end of the market, and next to a small path that led from the square the church was in to one of the courtyards, Rapunzel lay on the wooden top, keeping an eye out for any three soldiers dressed in white, a small pebble next to her. Pascal was on the lookout as well, sitting on the edge of the roof, surveying the paths below like some kind of guard would do on a castle wall or tower. Near them was a small chimney that had several bricks sticking out of the sides of it, having been damaged a while ago in a storm.

It had been about twenty minutes since the group had come out here to wait for Geoffrey and they had not seen him. Hopefully, he was just late, but she did begin to think that either he had decided not to come out here tonight now or they had missed him, though she did debate he would decide not to come out here. As she had heard Harry talking to those two soldiers earlier on, they were to be assigned to protect him and he did not sound like it would be cancelled or postponed or whatever.

Their plan to catch Geoffrey was for her and Pascal to keep a look out for him and when they saw him, she would throw the pebble to where they were, or in the part of the street they were near, basically anywhere where Eugene and Altair could see it. They would then corner him and, after getting rid of his guards, would try and get him to talk about what he knew about Robert's lieutenant and about this tenth Templar, and also what he was planning to do with Rapunzel. Hopefully, though, by then the market would be empty so they could interrogate him without the fear of being seen by any of the guards or any other Crusaders that might wonder into the market unexpectedly.

"You see anything, Pascal?" she whispered to her chameleon friend, who was sitting by the edge of the roof a few feet from her, looking up and down the path that led to the courtyard from the square.

He shook his head and replied with a squeak. She sighed and surveyed the path below her, seeing a man laden with fruit drag his cart back towards his house, having made a good deal of money today.

_At least someone's having good luck _Rapunzel mentally said to herself.

As she looked up and down the path, she heard a slight grunt from near the church and, looking up, she saw it was a large glass stand case with what looked to be small objects shaped like horses in them. It came to a halt near the edge of the square and a tall man walked past them to quickly check the door on the front of it was closed properly. It was Vladimir. What was he doing out here anyway with that stand?

_Oh wait! _Rapunzel mentally hit herself. _Idiot, he's doing his unicorn stand thing _she reminded herself.

Behind her, Pascal turned his head left and right again to see if there was any sign of their target, but still, there was nothing. The streets were virtually empty of anyone that looked promising. He sighed and laid down on the roof, looking over at Rapunzel. Were they possibly even wasting their time being here? After all, they had been waiting for a while and he had not come. What if they had missed him? If they had, then they could always wait until tomorrow to get him aga-

"Right, It's just round the corner,"

Upon hearing the voice, Pascal turned his head left, looking towards the courtyard. For a moment there was no one there, making him think he had imagined the voice. Then, three figures came out from behind the side of the building. All of them were wearing white uniforms and had their hands on their swords. He shot to his feet. It was them, the Crusaders! They were here! He recognized Geoffrey behind the two soldiers in front of him.

Quickly, he crawled over to Rapunzel and squeaked at her, drawing her attention.

"What is it, Pascal?" she asked.

He pointed with his tail towards the street below and then rose up on his hind legs and began to mimic the walk of a man, placing his hand on his side to mimic the Crusaders grabbing their swords. Rapunzel went wide-eyed, realising what he meant.

"Alright, where's the pebble?" she asked frantically as she searched for it, keeping low and quiet so as not to attract the attention of the Crusaders.

She found it, grabbed it and crawled a little further down the roof back in the direction of where Altair and Eugene were before siting up and, with all her might, throwing it in their direction, praying mentally that it would land in the alleyway or at least near them.

**At the alleyway**

Altair heaved another heavy sigh and stepped forward a little out of the alleyway and looked in front and behind him for any sign of a man, or three men, in white clothing. Again, for about the tenth time, there was nothing! He cursed under his breath and withdrew back into the alleyway.

"We will wait for a few minutes," he said to Eugene. "If they do not come by then, we'll go and find Rapunzel and-"

A tap from outside the alleyway drew their attention and the two saw it was the pebble Rapunzel had said she would throw as a signal. That meant they were coming.

"Alright, get down," Altair said to Eugene, who nodded and couched down alongside him, now waiting like lions hiding in the savannah grass for the perfect moment to strike at their deer prey, only this time they were not lions and their prey was not deer, but other men who they needed important information from.

Across the alleyway, a little further up the market, a man was busy taking apart his stall after emptying the boxes of pottery onto a cart, ready for him to take back to his house and prepare them for tomorrow's market day. He took off the multi-coloured drapery attached to the roof of the stall and walked over to the cart to put it in a box. He was completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Coming up the market street, Geoffrey and his two guards walked. They had looks of disappointment on their faces as they had arrived here later than they had expected. There were almost no stalls left out, save for the one that was being packed away a few metres in front of them.

"Bloody Hell!" Geoffrey growled. "I wanted ta 'ave a look around!"

"Why didn't we leave earlier then?" one of his guards asked.

"I was tired," he replied sternly. He sighed. "Well, may as well see what that guy's got to offer on his stall," he nodded over towards the man in the cart.

"But, sir, I think he's packing away," the other guard told him.

"Well, he can wait, can' he," Geoffrey replied. "Now c'mon, not waiting 'ere for tomorrow,"

He led his men over towards the cart and the stall. As they walked past the alleyway, Altair nodded at Eugene and stood up, but then Eugene suddenly stopped him.

"Wait, Altair, what about me?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" he answered, confused.

"I need a weapon as well,"

"Oh, of course," Altair looked down at his belt and took out his shorter blade knife and handed it to Eugene. "Make good use of it," and he walked off out of the alleyway before Eugene could reply.

"What good if this going to be against their swords?" he muttered to himself as he walked out of the alleyway after Altair.

The two approached the Crusader men from behind, readying their weapons. As they approached, however, one of Geoffrey's guards heard footfalls behind him and looked over his shoulder and saw the two men approaching them, weapons at the ready.

"OI!" he yelled, causing Geoffrey and the other guard to wheel round to face them and the man on the cart to look up from where he was.

"What the…wha's goin' on 'ere!" Geoffrey demanded angrily.

"You won't be going any further with your plans, Crusader," Altair said defiantly, taking out his sword. The two guards and Geoffrey took out their swords as well, ready for a fight if that was what these two were offering them. "We know that you have been meeting with Robert De Sable's lieutenant,"

"Yeah, and your plan to take Rapunzel," Eugene added.

"Whose Rapunzel?" one of the guards asked.

"The princess you idiots!" Geoffrey told them. "And why would we wan' her? Also, who the blo-" he stopped when a sudden realisation hit him upon seeing Altair. The look on his face quickly changed from anger to fear and shock. "Y-your…y-you're the…assassin!" he gasped, pointing at Altair. "You're the one who killed my man in the streets yesterday!"

"Yes, and it was done to help in stopping you from continuing this war in the Holy Lands and for taking a powerful gift for yourself," Altair replied, taking a step towards him. "Your scheme ends here, Crusader. No longer will you and the Templars cause death and destruction in the Holy Lands and your hope of taking a healing incarnation is finished along with you,"

If Geoffrey had not been scared, he would have realised what Altair meant by healing incarnation, but seeing Altair as the assassin and with his weapon out to kill him made his mind only revert to one emotion; full blown fear. This put only one thing on his mind: run!

"Get them!" he shouted to his guards, who lunged forward, swinging their weapons. Eugene and Altair responded in kind.

Altair raised his sword and hit the Crusader guards' one. Both used all their might to try and push the other one back, but their equal strength got them nowhere, so Altair quickly swung his sword back and jumped back at the same time, dodging another swing from the Crusader. Just as his enemy was raising his weapon, though, Altair swung his sword at him and hit the Crusaders', knocking it out of his hands and sending it flying through the air towards the cart. The man yelled out and dived out of the way onto the ground, narrowly missing the bladed weapon as it drove deep into the wood and stuck got up and ran off as quickly as he could. Altair quickly finished off his move with a kick to the stomach, sending the Crusader backwards into the stall. Geoffrey dove out of the way as his guard landed with a crash, breaking through the wood. The wooden pillars and the roof of the stall fell onto him, knocking him out cold.

Eugene, meanwhile, had managed to stop the sword of the other Crusader guard but he was met with a punch to the stomach, winding him and sending him down on his knees. The Crusader guard swung his weapon at him, but he managed to roll sideways out of the way and got up and swung his blade with all his might at the guard, who stopped him with his sword. Both began pushing each other as hard as they could in an effort to knock the weapon out of the other's hand or push the other over but, like with Altair and the other Crusader guard, their strength was equal. The Crusader growled and grabbed hold of Eugene's neck with his other hand and began to clutch it tightly, trying to choke him. Eugene gasped for breath and the Crusader cackled.

"Say goodbye, berk!" he said with glee, ready to kill this enemy.

But just as he was about to strike, a crash from behind drew his attention. Seeing his chance, Eugene kicked the man in the stomach, causing his eyes to grow so wide it looked as if they were going to pop out of his head and his breathing became gasps as he reacted to the blow and keeled forward, releasing his grip on Eugene's neck, onto the ground, the pain from his stomach flaring up and down his body.

_Thank you, Maximus _Eugene thought with relief.

Geoffrey got up, staring with shock at the two. Altair and Eugene stepped towards him, Altair raising his weapon. Fear gripped Geoffrey as if an invisible, giant hand was clutching him tightly. He stepped back a few paces but was stopped by the wall of the building behind him. Sweat began to run down his forehead and his heart was beating so much against his chest that it felt as if it was going to break out of it.

"Tell us what you know!" Altair demanded as he approached him. "What do you know about Robert's lieutenant? Why are you working with him and why are you planning on taking this incarnation?"

Geoffrey stuttered and looked around frantically for a way out. The only way out was further down the market towards the church, but these two would stop him. He had no way to get out!

Then, as if coming as a blessing to his pleas, a groan from the guard lying on the stall attracted Altair and Eugene's attention and as they turned to see what the noise was, Geoffrey saw his chance and took off down the road.

"Hey!" Eugene shouted when he heard him running and looked to see him gone. "Altair, he's making a run for it!"

"We mustn't let him get away," he replied and they ran off after Geoffrey.

Watching all this from the rooftop nearby was Rapunzel. Upon seeing him run, she frantically began to look around the rooftop for a way down onto the street or something to throw at Geoffrey to try and slow him down, but there was nothing she could use and there was no way down. Oh, this was hope less. He was going to get away!

Pascal, who was on her shoulder, suddenly prodded her on the cheek and pointed over to the broken chimney. Rapunzel's eyes lit up like a star.

"Pascal, you're a genius!" she exclaimed, relieved, and rushed over to the chimney.

The bricks were not very loose and she had to pull really hard to get one out. When she did, she rushed back over the edge of the roof just as Geoffrey was entering the part of the market she was at, Eugene and Altair hot on his heels.

"OI, come back!" she looked up the street to see the two guards running after Altair and Eugene, threatening them if they were to catch Geoffrey. She had to help them. She brought back her hand and, when Geoffrey had passed into the square with Altair and Eugene chasing after him, she threw the brick with all her might at the stall with the glass case just as the guards were near it.

SMASH! The guards screeched to a halt as the brick flew past them. The stone object broke right through the front of the case and caused it to collapse and fall onto the ground, breaking all of the unicorns inside and spraying bits of glass.

"Who the Hell threw that?" one of the guards asked, furious someone had tried to hit them with a brick.

"Up there!" the other said, pointing up at the roof where Rapunzel was. The other guard looked and saw her and glared, but then gave a slight chuckle.

"Well, we've got a prize on our hands," he said to his friend as they began to walk towards the building where Rapunzel was.

"WHAT THE!"

the two men wheeled round and went wide-eyed with shock and fear when they saw a large man with a Viking hat, coat with no sleeves, large trousers and a muscular body standing in a doorway. It was Vladimir. He had gone to the toilet in there and had come out only to see his unicorn collection smashed to pieces on the ground. He looked down with wide-eyes at the remains of the case and then up at the guards. His face instantly changed from a look of shock to anger, going a kind of purple colour like a beetroot. His eye twitched and his hands clenched into fists and his teeth gritted tightly to the point where they would most likely break and a look of concentration set across his face.

"YOU BROKE MY UNICORNS!" he yelled.

The Crusaders looked at each other and, in a cartoonish way, decided it was best to go and ran up the path that led to the courtyard as fast as their legs would carry them, Vladimir hot on their heels.

Up on the roof, Pascal gave thumbs up to Rapunzel as if to say: _"Nice one," _

"Thanks, Pascal," she replied.

"G-go away!" the two looked over at the church to see Geoffrey backed up against the wall of the building, his sword out, but against Altair and Eugene, and one of the two being a skilled assassin, was not going an easy fight to win.

"You may as well give up, Geoffrey," Altair said, his blade at the ready. "Tell us what you know about Robert's lieutenant!" he demanded.

Geoffrey, though still scared, tried to glare at him. "My-my guards'll stop ya!" he warned, looking behind them. Altair and Eugene looked over their shoulders but all three saw they gone.

"Not very loyal," Eugene commented, chuckling.

Then, just as he went to turn his head back around to face Geoffrey, he yelled and dived backwards as a sword swung down towards him. Altair reacted almost simultaneously, swinging his sword at Geoffrey's, hitting it and knocking it sideways. Geoffrey swung again, but missed Altair as he dodged it by jumping backwards. Eugene got up and picked up the short blade he had dropped when he had dodged Geoffrey's attack and watched as he fought Altair, trying to see if he could intervene and help his friend.

Geoffrey swung his sword up at Altair again, who blocked it by raising his own and causing the two to collide. Both pushed as hard as they could against each other, their teeth gritted together as if they had been stuck with superglue, their faces set on looks of concentration and anger as they tried to force the other one to back down.

"I'll kill ya, filthy assassin!" he hissed at Altair.

"Not before I get you, Geoffrey," he replied.

Geoffrey growled and swung a punch at Altair with his hand, hitting him in the stomach. Altair yelled out and keeled forward, dropping his sword. Geoffrey pushed him back and raised his sword, ready to bring it down and kill him.

"No!" Eugene shouted.

He rushed forward and launched himself at Geoffrey, pinning him to the ground and causing him to drop his sword. Eugene held him down with one hand, but before he could go any further, Geoffrey punched Eugene in the face and threw him off him and grabbed his sword, adrenaline flowing through his veins like a river as he rose up to strike down at Eugene. Across the square, Rapunzel's eyes went wide with fright upon seeing her lover about to be killed.

"EUGENE!" she screamed, her voice filled with terror.

Altair looked up and saw his friend in danger. His instincts to save him kicked in instantly and he rushed forward, bringing out his hidden blade. However, Rapunzel's scream attracted the attention of Geoffrey, who saw Altair coming towards him and he blocked his attack by swing his sword at him, which Altair dodged by rolling sideways. He shot up from the ground and held his position, his blade at the ready. Both stared at each other with deadly eyes, waiting to see who would make the next move so they could exploit a weakness and kill the other.

Eugene, however, as he sat up saw Geoffrey with his back to him, completely unaware of him. Seeing his chance, he grabbed his blade and threw it at him with a grunt. Geoffrey heard him and turned his head around, only to be hit in the head by the handle of the blade.

"OW!" he yelled as it hit him in the eye.

Altair saw his chance and rushed forward and, with one swing, drove his hidden blade into his chest. All of the air was forced out of Geoffrey and for a moment, he could not breath as he stared ahead, gasping a little. He felt no pain from the impact point of the blade but he felt nothing within his limbs as well. It was as if his entire body had gone numb. His now empty and death filled eyes met Altair's firm and killer filled ones. For a moment, he managed to stay upright, his body going slightly rigid. Then, he fall backwards onto the ground with a thud, dropping his weapon next to him.

"Whoa!" Eugene said as he got up from the ground, clearly shocked at what Altair had just done. "I didn't think you'd kill him,"

"I didn't have a choice," he replied as he knelt down next to Geoffrey and placed a hand behind his head to hold it up.

Geoffrey coughed weakly, his life slowly slipping away from him. He looked up at Altair, seeing his eyes were now calm and warm as if reassuring him he would be alright.

"Rest now," Altair said to him gently. "You are at peace,"

Geoffrey coughed again. "W-why did you…d-d-do this?" he rasped weakly. "Why di-d you t-t-try and….kill me?"

"You were working with someone who brings war to the Holy Lands," Altair replied. "I have to put an end to it, but I need to know who he is,"

"And you want me to…to tell ya?" Geoffrey asked. Altair nodded and he chuckled weakly, only for it to end with another light cough. "I…I can' do that… 'e'll kill all me men. 'E'll find ou' how you know him if I told ya,"

"Then why did you try and take Rapunzel?" Eugene asked him, his voice slightly more demanding than Altair's, as he knelt down next to him. "He was the healing incarnation and you and this lieutenant agreed you would have her! Why did you want to take her?"

Upon hearing these words, however, Geoffrey looked a little shocked. "W-what?" he asked. "T-the princess? I-I didn' know she….was the 'ealing…in-incarnation,"

Altair looked up at Eugene with slightly wide-eyes and then back at Geoffrey. "What do you mean you did not know? He had promised you the incarnation,"

"Yeah, bu' he didn' say what it was," Geoffrey told them weakly, having to stop to cough again as he began to feel a flaring pain sweep up and down his body from his chest. "He…he jus' said…I'll give it ta ya. It was…ta help ge' rid of…the illnesses in…London an' York and all other places. We would 'ave ended the plagues in London! B-but I swear I didn' know it was…the princess!" he coughed again, groaning slightly from the pain flaring out from his chest.

Eugene looked up at Altair with wide-eyes, Altair replying in kind. What? He had been given the incarnation as a gift to help rid of illnesses in London, but he didn't know it was Rapunzel? Something was definitely going on here, something very strange.

"We'll have to find out somewhere else about Robert's lieutenant," Altair muttered to Eugene.

Geoffrey chuckled weakly, having overheard him. "G-good luck with that, assa…assassin!" he gasped. "E'll find a way ta get at ya, jus' you wait," his voice began to drop to barely a whisper and his eyelids began to close. "Jus' you wait,"

With a final exhale, his eyes closed and his head cocked backwards. Altair felt the coldness run almost simultaneously from his body to his fingers. He was dead. Gently, he placed Geoffrey's body on the ground and stood up with Eugene.

"Can't believe that," Eugene said. "All this time, he had been lied to about Rapunzel,"

Altair heaved a heavy sigh of frustration. "Now we will have to find out about Robert's lieutenant somewhere else," he said.

"Guys, are you okay?" they heard Rapunzel ask. They looked over towards the building she had been on and saw her running towards them, Pascal on her shoulder. "I saw what happened. Are you hurt?" she asked worryingly, seeing if she could help in any way.

"No, we're fine, Rapunzel," Eugene replied, embracing her.

"I was so worried, I thought he was going to kill you," she said.

"Don't worry, I had Altair here to help," he nodded towards Altair. "Thanks," he said.

"It's fine," he replied, looking down at Geoffrey's body. "We will just have to try and find Robert's lieutenant somewhere else now," he said disapprovingly.

"That's only if he decides to stay," Rapunzel pointed out to him, a hint of concern in her voice. "He might leave now,"

Altair looked up at her and then back down at Geoffrey's body, thoughts of the worst possible scenario of this mission filling his mind. What if Rapunzel was right? What if he decided this death of Geoffrey would leave him afraid for his own and cause him to leave? If that happened, then they were surely to fail in this mission.

Shouting from further up the market drew the three's attention. Altair and Eugene realised what it was. The man from the cart earlier had fled and he was probably coming back with guards after telling them what had happened.

"We best go," Eugene said.

Altair nodded and the three ran across the square towards the path that led towards the courtyard, hoping to would evade the guards.


	17. Preparing the next strike

**Later that night**

The evening had descended over the kingdom of Corona, filling the ever-stretching black sky with thousands of stars. Alongside them tonight, however, was part of a visible moon as it was the time of the month where, over the nights, the largest light of the night sky would gradually begin to reveal more and more of itself until it became a full moon and hung in the night sky like a white sun. It looked very peaceful, but, unfortunately, it was not the exact same for the people of Corona.

News of what had happened in the market today had quickly spread around the kingdom and many feared that a group of assassins or an underground criminal society was active in the city, believing the murder of the Crusader commander and the kidnapping of Rapunzel to be linked somehow. The captain of the guards had reassured the citizens of the city, after being informed of the body of Crusader commander Geoffrey being found in the market, to remain calm and that they would find the killer of the Crusaders and have him brought to justice. However, this was doing little to calm the anger of the Crusaders, who were furious at being framed for the kidnapping of Rapunzel and many of them believed this was a retaliatory attack, one which Harry Godwinson, the new commander of the Crusaders now that Geoffrey was gone, had vowed to make Corona pay for unless they quickly found the man responsible.

Eugene and Altair, however, were also facing problems with the result of Geoffrey's death because the man who had fled from the market and alerted the guards to what was going on had told them Eugene had been in the market with this strange man in a white hood. Although Rapunzel had denied this, as had Eugene, it had only put him under increasing suspicion from the people in the city, some who did still hold a slight grudge against him for his past as a thief, going as far as accusing him of helping this man commit the murders and even taking part in it. Eugene had to, again, deny this, though he hated having to lie about what was mostly true, because he knew that if they were proved to be correct, then he could face prison, or possibly even death, something which he wanted to avoid, especially now when the entire peace of the Holy Lands, and now possibly even the future peace of Corona, was at stake.

Right now, the two had gone back to the castle, after going with Altair to Salad's to tell him the mission of getting rid of Geoffrey was over, whilst Altair stayed at the carpentry, pondering with Salad over what they were to do next.

Salad was sitting behind the table, a curled fist in front of his mouth and a look of worry on his face. Altair was sitting across from him, a hand on the table with his fingers drumming on the wooden surface of the object. Both were locked in deep conversation about how they were going to be able to find Robert's lieutenant now with the sudden scare in the city.

"Altair, you must understand that it will now be difficult to find him now," Salad was saying. "With this scare going around the city, I won't be surprised if he tries to flee tonight,"

"I know that, Salad!" Altair snapped back, frustration lingering in his voice. "I just need to think about how we can catch him before he does leave,"

"It could be too late by then," Salad sighed. "I do not think we should have involved those two in the first place, Altair," he said, causing his friend to look up at him. "They know too much! They could spill the beans and let the guards of this city know at any moment!"

"Well It's too late to change that now, Salad! In case you have forgotten, I took her with me out of the city and into the forest and I had to tell the captain of the city guards why I was here! I know it was a bad move and I did not want to do it, but It's too late to change all of that! Besides, as much as I do think it is dangerous to let them in on this mission of ours…I do owe my life to them for saving me,"

"Saving you?" a look of confusion came across Salad's face. Has he not been telling him everything of what happened today in the market?

Altair nodded. "Yes. Eugene helped me in getting rid of the guards and cornering Salad and Rapunzel had kept an eye out for her lover and prevented him from him and me being killed," he sighed, rubbing a hand hard down his face as if trying to tear it apart. "I think I have developed a friendship for them,"

Salad shook his head in disbelief. "Altair, you know what Al Mualim will say about this when he learns to it. You know what could happen to you,"

Altair nodded again. "I know, but…I'm ready to face that. The master will just have to accept that they helped me today and have helped us in our mission. Be honest, Salad. Without them, this would have taken a whole lot longer and be made much more difficult. Plus, only they and the captain know, besides us, of what we are doing here and the captain has kept the guards off our backs whilst we search the city, so, at least, some success has come out of this,"

Salad took in what Altair was explaining to him and did nod slightly in agreement. It was true. Eugene and Rapunzel, despite falling into this unintentionally, had helped them out a lot and made this mission a whole lot easier. Plus, the captain was keeping the guards away from them whilst they searched the city for this lieutenant so that added to it being easier.

Still, though, what would Al Mualim say if he found out about these new people in their mission? It was breaking one, or possibly even more, of the Creeds and he had wanted Robert to be found and eliminated, not leave his best man searching around the city like a headless idiot trying to find the man they were after. Oh, he would be most displeased with this when he found out.

"Altair," Salad began after a few moments' silence between them. "I-"

Suddenly, he was stopped and looked worryingly with wide eyes over at the door. Altair looked over towards it as well like a dog being aware of something peculiar to it. They had heard a small tap on it from the other side. There were no plants near it that could make that noise against it and there were no animals either, meaning only one thing: someone was on the other side of the door, listening to them.

Slowly and quietly, he stood up and walked over to the door, quickly looking over his shoulder back at Salad and signalling him to get a weapon in case this happened to be soldiers or guards. Salad obeyed and rushed off behind his counter to find something to use to defend himself if need be. Altair stepped closer to the door, reaching out to the slot with one hand and placing his other hand on the end of his sword, ready to pull it out if this came to a fight.

When he reached it, he gripped the handle of the slot and, gingerly, opened it a tiny fraction and moved his mouth near it.

"Who's there?" he whispered in a demanding voice.

"Altair, It's us," came an instantly recognizable voice. Rapunzel. Quickly, he unlocked the door and opened it to reveal her standing outside with Eugene. Pascal was sitting on her shoulder. "Quick, inside!" he urged them.

"No, Altair, you have to come with us," Rapunzel told them.

Frustration and nervousness began to grow within him. "Why? What is it?" he demanded.

"The new Crusader commander is at the fortress," Eugene told him. "He's talking with the captain, probably over something important,"

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah, we best go," she added.

Altair sighed and looked over his shoulder at Salad, who was watching them nervously from behind the counter, waiting to see what they were going to do, but fearing that they would all be seen.

"We'll be back soon, Salad," he told him and he ran out into the street, closing the door behind him. The almost complete pitch blackness of the street hit him instantly, only just being penetrated by the little light coming in from the sky and the candles in the windows of the houses along the streets and the castle windows high above them, each one like a lighthouse for them when they needed it. Altair could only just see Eugene and Rapunzel in front of him.

"I hope this isn't dangerous," he told them.

"It won't be," Rapunzel reassured him. "C'mon, we'll explain on the way,"

They ran off back towards the castle, Altair following them as they began to explain what was going on.

**Several minutes later**

The main castle courtyard was a large oval-like shape with the ground and the walls of the courtyard being made of polished white stone, almost giving it a chalk-like colour. The back of the courtyard had a kind of raised stone floor with a set of stairs on both sides of it leading to the large bronze front opening of the castle. Opposite it were the two large wooden gates that led into the courtyard, separating the entire castle from the city, with the walls on both sides of it and walkways on the top big enough for two men to walk down them from the towers to the gatehouse building side-by-side. On the left side were several more stone raised grounds with a clear space on them where a small silver piano was placed. On the ground in the middle of the courtyard was another large sun engraved into the stone, exactly like the one Altair had seen the other day in the courtyard with the two stone walls depicting Rapunzel and her parents and then her and Eugene.

On the main street, Rapunzel, Eugene and Altair ran towards the courtyard entrance. As they had gone through the city, the two had explained everything that had happened to Altair. Apparently, the Crusader captain Harry and two more soldiers had arrived at the courtyard and had confronted the captain as he was about to lock the gates and he had ordered all the guards into the castle and walked with them over to a secluded part of the courtyard to talk to them in private. The two did not know what and had tried to listen in, but the guards at the door prevented them from sneaking into the courtyard, plus the windows were too high, the doors onto the walls were locked and, overall, they were inside the castle and they knew it would be best for Altair to hear this as well as he had better hearing then they did.

Eventually, they had managed to sneak out of the castle by going to one of the platforms on the side of the castle and, using one of her mother's old wedding veils and tying it around one of the stone banisters of the railing around the edge of the platform, climbed down to the ground and headed off to the carpentry. With this new Crusader here after today's event, there was bound to be something important that was about to be uttered here and they had to find out what it was.

As they reached the orchard near the gate, which lay partially open, Eugene turned to the others.

"Okay, we'll try and climb up the trees to get onto the wall and hear what they're saying," he said to them.

"What if they hear us?" Altair asked.

"Look, I told you, we will do whatever we can about this!"

The three looked over towards the gate and saw it opening. Fear gripped them, realising that they could be seen. Altair grabbed Eugene and Rapunzel and pulled them back into the darkness between the trees and the building and the wall and they crouched down, their eyes set on the gate as they watched it open more and more until it stopped suddenly, leaving a ten foot gap between it and where it had been. Silence filled the air for a moment before they saw several figures emerge. From the light of the buildings nearby, they could just about make out Harry, which was also helped by the fact he and his guards were wearing white clothing, which lights up easily in the dark. The fourth figure, who stopped by the gate, was obviously the captain, which they could tell by his voice which was coming from the fourth figure's direction.

"Well you best keep an eye out on the streets then!" they heard Harry snap at the captain. "And you better keep an eye on those soldiers of yours and those priests and scholars that are here as well!" he added with a firm tone. "If you don't, then we'll have to step in and deal with them. We are, after all, fighting for peace,"

The captain sighed. "Look, I promise you, we will find this man and we'll have him for you by tomorrow," he assured them.

"Best do!" Harry growled.

The three in the darkness watched as he and his two guards walked off down the main path disappearing behind the building. The captain watched them go for a moment before growling and slamming his hand on the gate with a loud thud.

"C'mon," Rapunzel said to Eugene and Altair, standing up. "We best go talk to him,"

They nodded and got up and followed her over to him. He heard the rustling of the few bushes around the trees and looked up, a little hint of fear in his eyes but he concealed it well. He was a soldier after all and had been trained to hide his fear many times before.

"It's us, captain, don't worry," Rapunzel reassured him as she emerged from the darkness, Eugene and Altair behind her. "Sorry if we scared you," she added apologetically.

"What are you all doing out here?" he asked them. Then it hit him. "Oh, It's about what was said, wasn't it?" he asked before they could tell him and they nodded. "No surprise there," he muttered under his breath.

"What did they say, captain?" Altair asked.

"They said they wanted to conduct searches of the houses in Corona to find the man who killed their commander," he told them. "I have no doubt you were all behind it," he said and they nodded. "Well," he continued. "I said they would have to wait until tomorrow before they could do that and I promised them that we would find him by tomorrow and take him to the gallows for execution. That will, I hope, calm them and the city down at least and prevent a war from breaking out, It's the last thing we need,"

"What about Robert's lieutenant?" Eugene asked him. "He could be leaving by now in fear for what happened,"

"Look, Rider!" the captain pointed a finger at him, his eyes narrowing dangerously and his voice going into a deadly growl. "Right now, I have to worry about a war between these Crusaders and the city than some damn lieutenant! I promised to help you and I have, but I can do no more!"

"Alright, stop!" Altair stood between them, stopping Eugene from arguing back. He turned to the captain. "Captain, did you say that you would have someone by tomorrow?" he asked. The captain nodded. "Then with Harry the only one left who knows about the lieutenant, It'll be the perfect time to get him and make him reveal who he is,"

"Do you think It's possible?" Rapunzel asked him.

"Yes," he replied. "Plus, it may be the only chance we have left to catch the lieutenant. Provided he will still be here by tomorrow," he added.

"Then you best stay the night here," the captain told him. "I'll just lock up the gate and then we'll get rid of the guards and find you a spare room,"

Altair nodded. "Thank you, captain," he replied.

The three walked past him into the courtyard, Eugene giving him a look of annoyance as he passed, which the captain returned. When they were inside, he closed the gate and locked it shut, sealing the castle off from the outside world as if it were no longer wanted.


	18. A mysterious figure

**Meanwhile, on the mainland**

About ten miles from the coast and the bridge that led onto the island kingdom of Corona, a tall tower stood over the forest, having been built as a watchtower a few decades ago before it was redecorated and used as the hideout for Mother Gothel for when she kept Rapunzel here for her hair. It had actually been a good home, despite the windows being almost seventy feet above the ground and the main entrance to the tower being sealed up.

Now, however, with Mother Gothel dead, it was abandoned. It did not look that way though. The wood around the tower roof and windows still stood and the inside of the tower was still decorated just as it had been, though dust was still gathering on the furniture left and the floor. Give it another few years or so and it would be covered in dust as if it had been abandoned for centuries, which it likely would do unless it was either destroyed by a natural disaster or used by man or bought and used by someone else. Whatever lay ahead of the building, fate would have to decide what to do with it.

Near the clearing the tower was in, the bushes and leaves on the trees rustled slightly as a gentle breeze blew over them. Silence hung in the air as the night droned on towards the next day, the little part of the moon and the stars high above gazing down from space at the Earth as if keeping watch over it until the sun came.

Then, out of the bushes came a light glow that steadily grew brighter and brighter as it moved towards the tower, hovering about six feet off the ground. It flickered several times, giving the impression that it looked like a fire had started. Wait though. If it was a fire, then why was it only in a small glow rather than emanating from the entire forest and why was there no smoke bellowing out into the sky?

Oh, someone was carrying a lantern that was why. A figure dressed in a large cloak with a black hood was sitting on a horse, also explaining why it was hovering above the ground. The horse trotted towards the tower, the figure pulling back on the reins, making the horse come to a halt a few metres from the tower.

"Good boy," the figure said deeply to the creature, patting it and climbing down onto the ground.

Using the lantern to guide the way, he walked over to the tower, stopping on a spot that was just below the window as if feeling the presence of someone there. If he had known about the struggle that had taken place in the tower some time ago, he would realise he was standing on the very spot where Gothel had turned to dust as she fell to the ground. He looked up at the window from under his black hood at the window as if wondering how he was going to get up there.

However, after a few moments, he just moved on from below the window around the edge of the tower, heading towards a small curved stone partially buried in the ground near the tower in a small patch of grass just next to the trees. When he reached the stone, he knelt down and moved his hand with the lantern nearer to it, reading the writing that had been engraved onto the front of the stone.

_My Mother Gothel_

_Thanks for looking after me_

_RIP_

The man gave a slight 'humph' and placed the lantern on the ground next to him.

"RIP," he muttered to himself. "I'll soon sort that out," he added as he reached under his cloak with his other hand.

Moments later, the air around the clearing suddenly glowed bright orange, surpassing the light emanating from the sky high above. It lasted for a few seconds before suddenly stopping as if someone had flicked a switch and shut off the light. The man climbed back onto his horse and resumed his journey.

His destination: the kingdom of Corona.


	19. Listening in

**The next day**

A busy morning had dawned for the people of Corona and it was not because of the original day-to-day activities of them, but it was because everyone was heading towards the castle for an important event after something had happened during the night.

Word had spread out through the city this morning that guards had found the one responsible for the death of Crusader commander Geoffrey during the night and now he had been taken to the gallows in the execution courtyard next to the castle. Many were going to see if this criminal was a Crusader or not so as to put an end to the rivalry between the Crusaders and the Coronan citizens. The Crusaders, however, had already tried to preach about and say that this man was not a Crusader, though few believed them and wanted to see for themselves. At least there was one thing everyone would be happy about and that is all this trouble making this man had caused would finally be paid back and brought to an end.

Inside the castle, there was a great rush as guards were preparing to keep an eye on the crowd and prevent any fighting breaking out between them and the Crusaders. The king, his queen, the captain and Rapunzel were also preparing to go out into the courtyard to watch what was going to happen, but they felt uneasy about this because the captain had found this person so soon and they were worried he would be innocent and that the real killer would still be out in the streets of the city somewhere.

Rapunzel, however, was more nervous than her parents. As she sat in her room, looking down at the courtyard from her window, watching the crowd mass into it and the guards line up around the edges, all of them looking like little toy figures from where she was, she felt uneasy and even began to sweat a little. What she was worried about was that in one of the towers nearby, Eugene and Altair had gone there where they planned to get Harry, who was going to be carrying out the execution of the one who had killed his commander. The captain had ordered no guards to line up along the walls of the courtyard in case, as he explained, an associate(s) of the killer, or someone who may want to take their own revenge against him, attacked them and used their weapons on him and right now, a feeling of revenge was the last thing that would be needed in the kingdom with what was about to happen.

Rapunzel heaved a heavy sigh and looked down towards a small section of the right courtyard wall that came to the side of the castle where an entrance door was. Above that was a small tower with a ledge about fifteen feet above the wall. That was where Eugene and Altair were headed to, or where they might be now and were just planning their attack. Another stroke of worry swept through her, thinking that somehow this could all go wrong. After all, it nearly had done yesterday when they were going after Geoffrey so there was a chance it could _all _go wrong with the Crusaders now on edge and more cautious and vigilant than before.

She felt something crawl onto her shoulder and she looked to see it was Pascal. He gave her a smile when she looked at him and she returned it, though hers was small and filled with nervous tension.

"Hey Pascal," she greeted softly, stroking his back with her finger. He closed his eyes dreamily, loving it when she did that. But when he looked back up at her, she was looking nervously back down at the courtyard below. He gave a slight squeak and she looked at him. "Huh, oh, I'm fine," she told him.

Pascal raised an eyebrow and gave her an: _"Oh really," _kind of look, obviously seeing through her excuse. She saw this and sighed.

"Oh, alright, Pascal," she gave in. "I'm worried about Eugene and Altair. I mean…what if this all goes wrong like yesterday?" she said worryingly. "What if they find out it was us that killed that guy? I mean…oh!" she buried her face in her hands. Pascal placed one of his paws on her cheek to reassure her and calm her down, but in the back of his head he too was thinking that this plan they had set down for today might go horribly wrong, but he tried not to show it to Rapunzel and gently rubbed his paw up and down her cheek. She turned her head to look at him and gave another small smile.

"Thanks, Pascal," she said. "You never really seem to lose faith in anything, do you,"

Just then, a knock came at the door. Rapunzel and Pascal looked to see her mother open it.

"Rapunzel, dear, It's time," she said.

Her daughter nodded. "Alright, mother," she replied. She gently took Pascal off her shoulder and placed him on the windowsill. "You best stay here, Pascal. I don't want you to see this," and before he could protest, she got up and walked out of the room with her mother. As they walked left, Pascal saw the king about to close the door when he heard another voice from the right of the corridor call him.

"Your majesty," the voice said. Pascal instantly recognized it to be the captain's. The king turned to look right down the corridor. "Can I talk to you for a moment, please, sir?"

A puzzled look came upon the king's face but he decided to oblige and walked down the corridor. Pascal became curious. Why was the king going to speak to the captain right before the execution of the prisoner? It was something that they did not do before.

Deciding to try and find out, he jumped down from the windowsill to the floor and crawled across the floor to the corridor. With a quick glance left and right to make sure no one was coming, he scuttled down the corridor towards a small door at the end that lay slightly ajar. Voices were coming from inside it as Pascal approached. Yes, they were the captain and the king's. What was it they were discussing? More importantly, why now and why in private?

As he reached the door, he stopped and poked his head from behind it to look into the room. It was a large rectangular shape with bare brick walls and several torches lined up along the walls to light up the room. In the middle of the room was a small oval shaped table with a bowl of fruit on it and under another kind of desk on the left wall of the room was a small box with a tiny lock on it. The king and the captain were standing facing each other at the moment with their sides to Pascal. They could not see him now, but trying to sneak in either way would make them see him. Luckily, he had one advantage they did not.

The door was a kind of dark brown colour. He crawled onto it and turned himself dark brown colour and made his way across it into the room and up the side of it so he was near the top.

"One moment, sire," the captain said as he walked over to the door and pushed it shut, leaving Pascal trapped inside and, if he was seen, in big trouble.


	20. Disaster in the courtyard

**Meanwhile, at the courtyard**

The execution courtyard was a large square building that was placed on a small hill next to the castle and had been connected to it after recent work on removing parts of the hill and adding in new wall foundations. The courtyard building was several floors high and had two towers on the corners that stuck out from the towers, giving the soldiers who were on view there a perfect view of the sea and not really a lot of interference from man-made buildings if they were to look left or right. In the middle of the courtyard was the gallows and on the right wall was a large wooden entrance door that led out onto a path that led back into the city on the other side of a smaller hill.

At the moment, the walls were mostly deserted, mainly because the soldiers that would be manning them were down in the courtyard, keeping an eye on the crowd and the force of Crusaders that were about to enter the courtyard with the prisoner, the one who had caused so much havoc in the city. There was, in fact, only one guard on the courtyard walls, him being on the wall furthest from the castle and facing the sea. The others had to be kept in the courtyard or were stationed in the city just in case this man had any friends who would probably hear about him about to be executed and tried to rescue him.

As the citizens of Corona slowly piled into the courtyard, all of this was being watched from above by two figures in a small tower window. It was Eugene and Altair. The window they were on was just a little to the right of the wall on the left side of the courtyard, easily within jumping distance for Altair. The two watched as the last of the citizens entered the courtyard.

"Packed to the full," Eugene muttered.

Altair nodded in agreement. "Let's just hope we can deal with Harry when he arrives without too much interference," he replied.

The two looked up at the guard on the wall. At the moment, he was pacing up and down with his hand on his sword, not really paying attention to the scene below. He was a perfect target and plus, where he was, Altair needed to get to.

Their plan, once they had gotten rid of the guard, was for Eugene to distract the people of the courtyard by blowing a horn, which he had attached to his belt, along with a single, tiny throwing knife, which looked more like a sharp pin and was no bigger than his thumbnail, and the short blade again for protection in case anything went wrong, and then Altair would jump down from the wall to Harry as he stood on the gallows, as he would no doubt execute the man they thought was the murderer, and kill him. It sounded difficult to Eugene, and to most people it was. Even for Altair, he had to admit jumping from a wall about twenty five feet above the ground and trying to kill somebody was mad to him, but his skills and training as an assassin helped ease him a little. However, it was not just the difficulty of this task that worried him. Like with Rapunzel, he and Eugene feared the question: what if something went wrong here? There was a chance of something going here, it had done yesterday, only this time the stakes were higher. Security and vigilance of the Crusaders and the guards of the city was going to be a lot tighter and if one thing went wrong, then Altair would find himself dead and Eugene probably along with him.

That fear, however, only made the two more determined to win against the Crusaders here. They _were _going to win and they _were_ going to put an end to this Templar threat here.

"So how do you plan to get rid of that guard?" Eugene asked him.

"I'll sneak over when he turns his back," Altair replied, pointing at the wall and moving his finger along to show how and where he was going to attack the guard. "Then I'll go up behind him and try and knock him out before he raises the alarm,"

"Alright, just…just don't kill him,"

"Don't worry, Eugene. I've come to like this little kingdom of your girlfriend's,"

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, it is gr-whoa wait, what did you say?"

"Rapunzel, your lover,"

"Oh. Well…" he shrugged. "Yeah, you call us that,"

Altair stifled a light smirk as he looked back at the guard. "I can call it a lot more than that," he muttered under his breath.

"Alright, bring 'im in!" a voice barked from below.

The two looked and watched as a small path was formed in the crowd as about ten Crusaders entered the courtyard through the main entrance. In the middle of the group of Crusaders was Harry and next to him, being pushed along by another Crusader, was a short man dressed in blue robes and a white hood. Another four Crusaders were leading them along towards the gallows and behind the three in the middle were the remaining four of the ten strong group.

Altair gave a little gasp and Eugene went wide-eyed. "That's Salad!" they whispered in unison and looked up at each other. How was he found by the Crusaders? "Oh great!" Altair muttered, looking back down at the crowd, watching as they neared the gallows steps. "Looks like we have a race against time on our hands," he said to Eugene.

"Yeah," he replied. "Best go, quick, whilst we can still save him,"

Altair nodded and crouched down slightly, readying himself to jump the fifteen or so feet from the windowsill to the wall in front of him.

"Good luck, Altair," Eugene said.

He looked back over his shoulder at him and nodded. "You to," he replied before turning his head back to look ahead of him again. He took a deep breath to calm his heart, which was beating madly like a drum against his chest. His legs bent a little more, readying to catapult the body they were attached to into the air.

Then, he jumped. Eugene held his breath and watched as Altair was falling through the air for a moment. He reached his arms out as far as they would go and grabbed hold of the gap between the battlements, gripping them tightly with his fingers so as not to fall to his death. He hung where he was for a moment, though not daring to struggle in case someone looked up and saw him, before he quickly pulled himself up and vaulted over the battlements and onto the wall. Eugene, who had watched this from the window sill, breathed a sigh of relief, slamming a hand onto his forehead, and nodded at Altair as if to say _"Good work." _Altair replied in the same way and, keeping low, ran down the wall towards the tower at the end.

As his friend neared the wall, Eugene looked down and watched as the last few people entered the courtyard. From where they were, he could see a small gap created by the guards just in front of the gallows. A group of three people entered the courtyard and the gates closed behind them. From his position, Eugene easily recognized them to be the king, the queen and Rapunzel. He grimaced slightly upon seeing them enter, knowing that it was going to be quite sickening for them and everyone else, particularly Rapunzel, to see someone about to be put in the hangman's noose.

The Crusaders in front and behind Harry, Salad and the Crusader pushing Salad along, separated from the three and formed a kind of shield around the gallows, their hands on their swords, ready to pull them out in case they were attacked by any accomplices of the one they believed was the killer of the their commander. Salad was led up onto the gallows and pushed over to the rope by the guard. Harry gave a slight chuckle and walked over next to him.

"Ya feeling scared?" he asked mockingly, expecting him to be afraid and probably even begging for mercy.

Salad just looked at him disgustedly. "Death is a part of life, my friend," he replied. "Though I will admit I fear death that is mostly because of my coming judgement before God,"

Harry glared at him for a moment, obviously disappointed by his failed attempt to scare Salad. He would have liked it if he got on his knees and began to bawl and beg for mercy. But after a moment, he just chuckled.

"Well, let's hope you get your just desserts for what you've done," he said and stood up to face the crowd. "People of Corona!" he announced like a general addressing his troops before battle. "Today, we mark the end of this reign of this terror this man-" he moved to his side and pointed accusingly at Salad. "-Has brought among us! He is responsible for the death of two Crusader warriors, one of them being a commander and a friend of mine, and also for the chaos and destruction he has brought onto your city! But that ends today!"

Watching from above, Altair felt a hint of worry and an urge to hurry and get over to where he needed quickly in order to save his friend. He quickly glanced over at the wall across from him to check and see if the guard was facing away from him. He was, but he would not be forever. He climbed onto the battlement in front of him and jumped from it onto the next wall. Unfortunately he landed with a thud and the guard, who was a few metres in front of him, heard him and turned to see him standing there.

"Hey, who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing up here?"

Altair responded by charging down the wall towards him, clenching his fist to strike at him. The guard, however, responded quicker than he had anticipated and whipped out his sword and lunged forward, taking a swing at Altair. Thankfully, he dodged by jumping onto the battlements of the wall facing the sea and quickly jumped down behind the guard, whipping out his own sword. He jumped down and swung his weapon at the guard, who, in turn, swung his at Altair, both colliding with each other's in mid-air.

As Eugene watched from above, he took off the bow from his belt and held it in his hand, ready to use it when Altair was ready. He looked up at his friend, but went wide-eyed when he saw the guard with Altair by the throat and pushing him against the wall facing the courtyard, Altair himself struggling to force him off.

"Oh no!" he whispered in fear under his breath.

It _was _true! Their fears were right about something going wrong and it was happening right now! Oh, if Altair did not hurry, then they were doomed to fail not only in getting Harry but also in saving Salad. Problem was; what could Eugene do? He could get over there because he could jump as far to the wall like Altair, and even if he could, the guard would identify him and, plus, their plan would quickly collapse because there was no quick way to get back up to the tower for him to blow the horn to distract everyone. Damn! Everything in this plan was falling apart!

Below, Rapunzel bit her lip tensely as she watched the noose be wrapped around Salad's neck and tightened. Even though he was not showing any fear on his face, she did seem to feel it from him. Her heart was also beating madly against her chest as if it wanted to break out and stop this from happening. She looked up at the window, hope lingering in her eyes.

_"C'mon, guys!"_ she mentally begged desparately. _"Hurry!"_

On the wall behind her, Altair and the guard struggled to defeat the other. Although Altair had pushed the guard off his throat and forced him away from the wall, enabling him to get away from it, he was now locked in a fight with this guard and it was a race against time in trying to stop him from getting to Harry and saving Salad. He was going to need help in stopping him.

"You may as well give up," the guard said to him. "Your friend is doomed for what he's done,"

"You've got the wrong man," Altair told him.

The guard looked a little shocked upon hearing his words and his mind went blank. What? They-they have the wrong man about to be executed? His sword lowered slightly, just what Altair had been hoping for.

Suddenly, he charged towards the guard and jumped into the air, launching out his foot and kicking the guard in the chest, winding him. The guard was thrown back to the floor, out cold. As Altair landed back on the floor, he looked over at Eugene, who gave him the thumbs up to say _"Good work," _and Altair raised his hand back at him and moved over to the wall and looked down into the courtyard.

Harry, who now stood on the gallows alone, turned back to Salad, who had been turned to face the crowd in front of him. "Get ready to face judgement, criminal!" he said to him happily, knowing he was going to enjoy watching this person die for what he had done. He walked over to the lever to pull it. Altair's eyes went wide. They had only seconds to spare! Below, Rapunzel was biting her tongue and had her hands clamped together as if mentally praying for something to save him.

High above them, Eugene saw what was about to happen and put the horn to his lips and took a deep breath. It was time to save Salad and end this.

TAP! "What the…?" Eugene turned to see what the noise was behind him, but just as he did…

WHAM! The end of a frying pan was all his eyes managed to catch a glimpse of before he was out cold. A hand grabbed him to prevent him from falling into the courtyard and another hand threw a white cloak over him, covering his body. That hand then grabbed the tiny pin needle projectile from his belt and tossed it down into the courtyard before pushing Eugene off the ledge.

Harry grabbed the lever of the gallows Salad was standing on and took one final look at him.

"Say goodbye, criminal!" he sneered with delight. Then… "AAAAHHH!"

He grabbed his side and keeled forward as something sharp cut into him. He struggled to breathe. His guards rushed forward up the steps to see what was going on as every heard turned towards him. Altair went wide-eyed. What was going on? Why was he doing tha-

"OI! WATCH IT!"

CRASH! Someone landed on top of Harry and both went right through the gallows to the ground below, throwing up a small cloud of dust. Salad coughed and one of the Crusaders who had tried to climb onto the gallows was thrown off by the force of the crash.

"What on Earth is going on?" the king asked as he, his wife and Rapunzel looked over at the hole.

Altair held his breath in shock and fear as he watched some of the crowd and the Crusaders converge on the hole. He had seen Eugene fall from the windowsill, but as he looked back up, his eagle-like vision told him otherwise. Was someone there?

Back in the courtyard, Eugene groaned and lifted himself up from…

"AH!" he cried out and jumped backwards when he saw what he had landed on, the white cloak falling next to him.

Harry lay on the ground, his eyes now empty and cold, staring motionlessly up at the sky. No movement came from his body nor did a sound utter from his lips. He was dead.

"My God!" one of the Crusaders said as he knelt down next to Harry and checked his pulse but got nothing. He looked at the cloak and then at Eugene, though when he looked at him, his shocked look turned into a look of anger and fury. "HE'S KILLED HARRY! HE'S THE ONE!" he yelled, fury screaming out of him like a supernova.

Almost simultaneously as he had shouted, another two Crusader guards rushed forward and grabbed Eugene by the arms, one punching him in the stomach to wind him and prevent him from struggling, and dragged him off towards the entrance. As they passed through the crowd, Rapunzel caught a glimpse of him and gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth as panic swept through her. No! Something had gone wrong! Eugene had not meant to do that, but it was too late now. He had been captured.

What was worse, he was being framed for the murder of Geoffrey, no doubt, alongside this one, and for two murders, there was to be only one penalty for that.


	21. Learning the truth

**Ten minutes later**

Rapunzel rushed back up the corridors of the castle, her heart pounding madly against her chest with fear and adrenaline rushing through her like water against a rock. She had just seen Eugene be taken away by several of the Crusaders from the execution courtyard. Just moments ago, he had been captured in the courtyard when Salad was about to be executed. Even though they had saved their friend, it was likely now to cost her lover his life because he had landed on Harry, the new commander of the Crusader force, and killed him, making the Crusaders believe that he was the one who was responsible for the deaths of commander Geoffrey and another Crusader soldier in the city over the last few days.

There just had to be a way to prove Eugene was innocent! There just had to be! Her father had called together the second-in-command of the guards and was talking to him in the room up ahead of her to try and get the captain to see reason. Hopefully, he was having some luck. She wondered about Altair as well. Where was he? She needed to ask him how this plan of theirs had suddenly gone completely wrong and resulted in Eugene being taken away. With him gone, Altair was the only one who knew the answer.

Rapunzel burst through the wooden door of the castle into the room where her father and mother were standing near the entrance onto the stone balcony that overlooked the city, talking to the second in command guard, who was tall and heavily built with short blonde hair and green eyes and a small beard growing around his chin and up the side of his face. They all turned to face her as she burst into the room.

"Rapunzel!" her mother exclaimed in surprise.

"H-have you managed to reason with him?" she asked her parents and the second-in-command guard desperately, her mind praying for a yes.

Sadly, it was not to be. Her father shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, Rapunzel," he replied with a sad voice. "The captain has just left now with Eugene and the Crusaders," he sighed. "There is no doubt to what his fate will be,"

Upon hearing these words, Rapunzel placed her hands over her nose and mouth, her eyes welling up with tears, some of which began to roll down her cheeks. She could not believe that her lover was being framed for something he did not do, at least not intentionally, but the Crusaders would not listen to them. As far as they were concerned, Eugene was responsible for the death of their commander and the Crusader in the alleyways two days ago and they were going to want to take revenge in any way they could.

Her mother rushed over to her and placed her hands on her shoulders and embraced her tightly. "Don't worry, Rapunzel," she soothed her gently. "We'll find a way to stop them. Everything will be alright,"

"H-h-how?" Rapunzel replied, her voice breaking slightly. "B-by the time we find them…I-It'll be t-too late!"

"Is there anything you can do?" the king asked the second-in-command hopefully, but he just shook his head.

"I'm sorry, your Highness," he replied. "But the captain's already left and even we could catch up to them, we'd have a hard time in trying to stop the Crusaders from wanting to kill him. After all, sire, we don't control them. Besides," he lowered his voice a little. "The captain didn't seem too depressed to want to kill him anyway. He's always held a grudge against him,"

The kind heaved a heavy sigh and nodded in agreement. It was true what the guard was telling him. The Crusaders, especially these ones who had come here, were not the type to forgive and forget. For the death of their commander and a member of their force, they would want retribution to be theirs and they were going to stick firmly to the belief that Eugene was the one who had committed the murders and they were going to execute him as punishment.

Just then, the sound of light thuds came from outside. The king and the second-in-command guard looked out onto the balcony to see a figure pull himself up from below and over the balcony edge. It was a man in white hood! Fear gripped the king and the guard, their minds immediately going to the belief that there were more of these men in white hoods. The guard whipped out his sword.

"Halt!" he barked in a commanding voice. The figure did so and Rapunzel and her mother looked over to see him. Upon seeing the man, Rapunzel realised it was Altair.

"No wait!" Rapunzel piped up, standing in front of the guard's sword. "I know him don't worry," she reassured them.

The three stared at her with shocked expressions. "What!" her father exclaimed. "How do you know him? Do you know who he could be?"

She nodded. "Yes, and your right, father," she replied. She looked over her shoulder at Altair, who walked over to them. "But he's on our side,"

"That is correct," he added, stopping next to Rapunzel. The guard lowered his sword, but kept it out just in case Altair suddenly turned on them. "Your majesty, to make a long story short, I am the one responsible for the murders of the Crusaders. Admittedly, your daughter and Eugene were involved as well but they did not spill any blood. All of it is of my doing,"

The king looked at Rapunzel and Altair with a confused expression etching across his face. "I-I'm sorry," he said, placing a hand on his forehead. "Can you explain what is going on here?" he asked them.

Altair nodded and told them everything about why he was here, how Rapunzel and Eugene had gotten involved and that the captain was involved in this as well.

"So you've come here looking for this lieutenant?" the captain asked, just wanting to make sure he was getting the jist of this story Altair was telling him.

"Yes," Altair answered. "The captain said these Crusader leaders knew who he is, but with both of them dead now, I don't know how we will find out who this lieutenant is,"

"Speaking of the captain," Rapunzel piped up, turning to her father. "Why did you have to go and speak to him just before we left for the courtyard?"

The king sighed. "He said that he would solve this crisis with the Crusaders and put an end to this threat of a white man in a hood," he explained. "He added that he knew the ways these men work because they were Assassins. His old master, when he was out in the Middle East, had told him of them and taught him how to fight them. Then as we left, he reassured me again that he would solve this problem, and I'm quite sure he muttered someone's name as I left but I couldn't hear it," he concluded.

"Wait," Altair intervened. "He had been taught how to fight us from his old master out in the Holy Lands?" he repeated. The kind nodded.

"Yes, why?" he asked.

Altair placed a slightly curled fist over his mouth, his mind putting together what he had just heard and everything he had learned over the last few days. If the captain knew of these Crusaders and how they knew, or apparently did, about this lieutenant and that he had been out in the Middle East… He put that together with what he had just heard now and the fact that he knew about Robert de Sable, apparently from this Crusader who had stopped by weeks ago. Yes, it was slowly coming together, all of it was connecting. If the captain knew all of this…then there was only one explanation for it.

"What is it, Altair?" Rapunzel asked him. He looked at her.

"I think I know who the lieutenant of Robert de Sable is," he answered to her, his voice a little shocked at what was mostly likely the answer now.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. It opened and another guard stepped in.

"Excuse me, sire," he said. "Sorry for interrupting, but there's a man here who wishes to see you,"

Those in the room exchanged confused glances with each other. Who wanted to see the king? More importantly: why did he want to see the king?

"Let him in," the king replied after a few seconds.

The guard nodded and disappeared back out into the corridor. His voice, followed by another, one that sounded very familiar to Altair, reached their ears and the man stepped in. He was an elderly man slightly shorter than Altair who was dressed in the same kind of uniform as him, but rather than having a completely white hood, he was donned in a kind of black robe. He had a long grey beard that came down from his chin, stopping just above his chest. He looked to be in his late fifties/early sixties. It was Al Mualim.

"Master!" Altair exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised to see him.

"Remember you sent me the letter yesterday," he reminded him. "And I did tell you that I would be coming here when you had written back to me," he added.

"Oh," Altair felt a little embarrassed upon remembering that, but it was quickly brushed aside when the king stepped forward.

"Wait, you know this man?" he asked Altair, who nodded.

"Yes, he is the master of the Creed," he replied. Al Mualim stepped forward and shook the king's hand. "Al Mualim, your majesty," he greeted. "Sorry for the interruption, I have only just arrived here and I had to find my best man," he nodded towards Altair, releasing the king's hand.

"Well…why are you here?" he asked.

"I'm here because I had tasked Altair with finding this lieutenant, hence all the trouble over the past few days," he explained. He looked over at Altair. "Have you managed to find out who this man is we're looking for, Altair?" he asked him.

"I think I have now, master," he replied, but just as he went to explain, a young maid knocked on the open door, a box in her hand.

"Excuse me, your majesty?" she inquired. Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"What is it, Michelle?" the queen asked.

The maid walked in and held out a box to the queen, who glanced up at her, as if uneasy about taking it, before she took the box and opened it gingerly and peered in. She gave a little gasp upon seeing what was inside and turned to face her daughter.

"R-Rapunzel," she said in a tone that sounded a little shocked.

Her daughter walked over and looked into the box as he mother showed it to her. She gasped as well at what she saw.

Lying in the bottom of the box was Pascal. His eyes flickered several times as he raised his head, rubbing the side of it with his paw. The pain was still there after he had been hit in the head.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel breathed, reaching into the box and gently picking him up. "Are you okay?"

He groaned slightly and looked up and saw Rapunzel. As soon as he did, he jumped as if receiving an electric shock and began to squeak at her very quickly, trying to explain something to her.

"Whoa-whoa! Pascal, calm down!" Rapunzel tried to calm him. "Now, tell me slowly, what happened?"

He squeaked something at her and she gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

He squeaked at her again and she looked up at her father with slightly wide-eyes. "Father," she said. "Pascal said that he overheard everything when you went to talk with the captain," she said. "Then, he said the captain knocked him out,"

The king went a little wide-eyed. "What?" he asked, his mind going blank. "Why did he knock you out?" he asked Pascal.

The chameleon squeaked something to Rapunzel. "He said because the captain saw him and that he heard him mutter something like…oh, what was it Pascal?" she asked him and he squeaked at her. "He heard him mutter that he would finally get rid of two pains in the neck with what was happening," she repeated.

Upon hearing these words, Altair and the king looked at each other. With what they had just heard, both were beginning to think of the same thing. The captain…he…he was...the lieutenant! Rapunzel felt the same way. Her mind went blank with shock. All this time they had been getting help from the man Altair was looking for and now Eugene was going to-Eugene!

"If he's got Eugene, then what do we do?" she asked.

"Well, if he is this lieutenant, then why does he want Eugene?" the king asked.

"Hold on, did Pascal say that the captain was going to get rid of two pains in his neck just now?" Altair asked and the chameleon nodded. "If it was two pains, then one of them we know is the Crusaders-"

"And the other was Eugene," the second-in-command of the guards finished the sentence. Everyone looked over at him. "It wasn't a secret he didn't like Eugene,"

"Then, by the sounds of it and how everything is fitting together, this was a set up," Altair said. "Think of it, he said the guards captured Salad and claimed he was the man responsible for the death, even though he knew it was us, and he knew of our plan. So all he had to do was go to the tower and knock Eugene over and cause him to fall on Harry and kill him,"

"And in doing, getting rid of a thief he hates," Rapunzel said. "Altair, we have to go and rescue him quickly before they kill him. Father, where have they taken him?" she asked him.

"Out into the forest, but Rapunzel you can't-" he replied, but she cut him off.

"I can and I will! Don't you see, Eugene'll die if we don't go out there!"

"No, Rapunzel," Altair interrupted. "Your father is right. You have to stay here. I'll go after them. Besides, I have to finish my mission and I don't want you to get hurt,"

Rapunzel went to argue back but her mother placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes with a worried look, not wanting her daughter to get into danger again, not after when they had almost lost her last time.

"He's right, sweetie," she told her daughter. "You have to stay here. You'll be safe,"

"I'll assign some guards to help you," the king told Altair, but he shook his head.

"No, I must do this alone," he said.

"I agree," Al Mualim intervened. "He is our enemy and we must deal with him. Besides, Altair has dealt with far stronger foes before. He'll be fine,"

Altair nodded and looked back at Rapunzel. "Don't worry," he reassured her. "I'll save him and bring him back,"

She gave a small smile and nodded. "Thanks, Altair," she replied.

He nodded and looked back at the others. "I'll see you all when we return," he told them and he turned and ran out of the room into the corridor. Al Mualim watched him go with a slight ease rather than fear or concern like the others in the room.

_Good luck, boy _he thought as he moved his arm and clutched something under his robes. _You're going to need it._


	22. Preparing the execution

**Meanwhile, out in the forest**

In a small clearing next to a river, where the remains of a burnt out fire, having been lit a few days ago by Rapunzel and Altair, sat, a group of four Crusader soldiers stood and waited impatiently with their hands on their swords. One of them was standing by the side of the river, amusing himself by kicking up bits of dirt with his boot into the water. Another was leaning against a tree, tapping his foot against the ground, exhaling deeply in an annoyed manner every so often.

"Oh, this is getting damn ridiculous!" one of the two Crusaders standing in the clearing said, thumping his foot on the ground as if he were a child throwing a tantrum. "What the bloody Hell is that guard doing with him?"

"Wasting our time more like," the Crusader leaning against the tree replied. "Well, at least we can be thankful that we can kill this bastard and get him back for what he's done,"

The first of the Crusaders to speak nodded slightly. "I suppose," he muttered.

Silence fell between them for a moment, pierced only by the occasional twitter of a bird overhead or the running of the river nearby. Another splash came from there as the Crusader kicked a small stone into the water and watched the ripples grow from the point where the stone hit out across the surface of the river.

"How do you think this guy found us then?" the other Crusader standing in the clearing asked.

The Crusader leaning against the tree shrugged. "Only the Lord knows," he replied. "Besides, these guys are assassins, they could have found us with their eyes gouged out no sense of smell,"

"Yeah, I heard a lot about 'em in the Holy Lands," the first Crusader said. "Apparently, one of 'em managed to get to the king and killed his lieutenant,"

"One of them killed Robert?"

"Well that's what I heard, but I think It's just a load of rubbish,"

"It isn't," the Crusader by the river said, kicking a small pebble into the river and turning to face his comrades. "It's true. One of 'em did get to the king's camp and did fight Robert,"

The other Crusaders looked at each other, a little shocked to hear that the rumour they had heard about an assassin being responsible for the death of the king's lieutenant _was _true. It had been hard for them to gather everything that had happened because they were on the battlefield and most of those who had been at the king's camp at the time of Robert's death were killed in the battle afterwards.

"Well, we got a bit of revenge on our hands," the Crusader leaning against the tree said, pricking the end of his sword with his finger with slight eagerness.

"That's only if that damn captain hurry's up!" the first Crusader to speak growled, looking over to the undergrowth on the edge of the clearing. "What is he doing with him anyway?"

About thirty feet from them on the other side of the large clumps of bushes and trees, Eugene stirred and groggily opened his eyes. As soon as he did, a wave of pain struck him from his stomach area. It felt like it had been hit repeatedly. More pain came from his forehead from where he had a small bruise after one of the Crusaders had hit him in the face when they were taking him away.

_At least there's one good thing about pain _he mentally said to himself with minor comfort. _It let's you know you're alive_

It was then he noticed something else. Looking down, he saw ropes tied around him and behind him, as he looked over his shoulder; he saw he was tied to a tree! What had happened? Why was he tied to a tree?

"Oh good," a voice from in front of him said. "Your awake,"

Eugene looked up to see the captain approaching him, his hands swaying by his side and an impressed look on his face. Seeing him, Eugene gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh, It's good to see you, captain," he said. "Now you can free me,"

The captain chuckled at Eugene's words. Eugene looked puzzled. "What's so funny?" he asked.

The captain took a deep breath to calm down and looked at him with a sense of glee in his eyes. "Oh, Rider, you do make me laugh, despite being a thief!"

"What? Captain, w-what are you talking about? Why am I here anyway?"

"Because you're going to be executed," the captain folded his arms and looked over his shoulder at the bushes that led to the clearing. "The Crusaders want your blood, Rider, and now they're going to get it,"

Eugene gave a slight gasp and his eyes grew wide. He struggled against the ropes but to no avail. "Captain, c'mon, you…you have to get me out of here. We have to get back to the city,"

"We will be," the captain looked back at him and Eugene saw the seriousness in his face and the tone it had in his voice. "Just, without you," he stepped closer to Eugene and leaned his face near him, dropping his voice to a whisper. "This is a great day for me Rider. Not only because the Crusaders will go, but because I can finally rid myself of a pain in the neck that is _you_!" he poked Eugene in the chest hard, making him wince. "You are nothing but a common thief and even though you have changed your ways in the eyes of Corona, your nothing but an idiot!" he stepped back a pace and straightened. "For too long, Rider, I had to put up with you!" he clenched his fist and looked down at it as if reminiscing the times Eugene had caused havoc as a thief over the last few years. "You stole and you humiliated me and the city, made up look weak and useless in our bid to capture a thief! But…" he lowered his fist and looked back at Eugene with an evil smile. "Experience in the Holy Lands taught me how to be cunning and quick like a thief and now I've used that to bring you here,"

Eugene stared at him with wide-eyes, but a question popped into his mind. "The Holy Lands?" he repeated. "When did you go there?"

"Oh, it was about two years ago. I fought there with the Crusaders, but I was disgusted at their vile ways and how they wanted to destroy Islam and make the Holy Lands part of a Christendom empire!" he spat at the ground as if proving his point. "It disgusted me like nothing I had ever seen," he half turned and his voice picked up a little. "But then…I met someone called Robert de Sable, the lieutenant of King Richard I and he taught me a new kind of combat fighting, one with which I could fight easily and be better than all of the Crusaders!" he clenched his fist and it shook slightly as he did. "Oh, I wish he was still alive now! He was a great man, Robert. A great man. He could have easily put an end to this violence with what he had planned for the Holy Lands. All of this fighting could have been ended quickly,"

As he spoke, a sense of realization began to sink into Eugene. Robert de Sable? He had heard that name before, he had heard it when Altair was here and told them about his mission! What shocked him though was that the captain knew him because he had met him in person.

"Unless," Eugene muttered under his breath, the truth finally dawning on him. The captain heard him and looked back at him with a small smile, but an evil one, on his face, meeting Eugene's gaze. "You're the lieutenant!"

The captain chuckled. "I've got to hand it to you, Rider," he replied, stepping forward towards him and patting him on the cheek. "You're pretty smart for a thief. I'm impressed,"

"But…but captain, don't you realise what you brought to Corona and what had done?" Eugene cried. "Y-you were going to sacrifice Rapunzel to the Crusaders and let them take her away! You promised her to them! What's more, you've brought all of this chaos onto the city!"

"All of it was for a good thing, Rider," he replied, stepping a few paces away from him and looking back at Eugene over his shoulder. "First of all: I would never have promised Rapunzel to them, she's way out of their league to be a slave or servant or whatever to a bunch of scum! Admittedly, though, I did use her as live bait-"

"-And risked her life at the same time!" Eugene hissed. The captain glared at him and swung a punch at him, hitting him in the stomach. Eugene felt all of the wind be blown out of him and he keeled forward and would have collapsed onto the ground if the ropes that were keeping him to the tree were not there. He coughed and groaned as the pain flared up and down his body.

"Do not interrupt, Rider," the captain reminded him. "Do not give up your manners, like you thieves always seem to do. Anyway, as I was saying, Rapunzel as the best choice I had because I knew that after Richard would start sending men home once Robert had been killed, they would stop here and that Altair would have come here with them!" an annoyed look came upon his face as if speaking that very name made him furious. "It was the only way in which to use her to get them to stay and then get you three to do the work for me in getting rid of these Crusader leaders,"

Eugene shook his head a little, the shock of this overwhelming him. But questions buzzed in his mind.

"So why did you kill them then?" he asked. "I mean, why did you want to?"

"Revenge," the captain replied. "As I told you a minute ago, I hated them for the way they acted in the Holy Lands and I thought they needed a bit of a taste of their own medicine!" he scoffed. "Soldiers of Christ, my head!" he muttered. "Anyway," he continued. "With them dead, I can finally put the last of my plan into motion by making them go, once they've killed you of course!" he sighed admiringly to himself. "Two revenges in one act, oh I amaze even myself sometimes,"

Eugene glared at him. "You're a monster!" he growled at him. "Altair and Rapunzel and the king'll stop you. They'll know who you are!"

"And how do you think they will learn that?" the captain reminded him, raising an eyebrow. Eugene did not answer. "That's what I thought. Oh, and by the way, Rider," he stepped closer to him. "Altair will soon be gone. You see, I don't know if he's told you or not, but there's something about this Creed of his that even he doesn't know about! He's too ignorant and stupid to see it!" he shrugged. "Oh well, he won't have to. He'll die with his Creed. Now, let's get this over with shall we? I have a group of fools to get rid of and another man to kill and a Creed to destroy,"

He walked around the tree and cut something. The ropes loosened a little but they did not release him completely. The captain reappeared from behind the tree dragging a small shield which the ropes were attached to and began to walk back towards the clearing. Eugene was dragged from the tree across the ground after the captain.

"Oh, by the way, Rider," the captain was saying as they approached the bushes that led to the clearing. "I forgot to thank you for getting rid of Harry for me, even though I had to give you a helping hand. As a reward, I'll make sure the Crusaders'll kill you quickly," as they reached the bushes, they suddenly stopped and the captain looked over his shoulder at him. "Then again, as your thief, maybe not," he chuckled and walked on, pushing through the bushes, some of the branches and leaves hitting Eugene in the face as they went.

The Crusaders looked over at the bushes upon hearing the sound of the rustling and saw the captain emerge dragging Eugene behind him.

"Ah, finally!" the Crusader leaning against the tree exclaimed in a relieved manner. "Thought we'd been abandoned by you!"

"No, I always keep my word," the captain told him, stopping in the clearing and dropping Eugene to the ground with a thud. "Here you go, lads. One assassin all ready to for execution. Just…just make sure he suffers,"

The Crusaders chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about that captain," the first Crusader who had been standing in the clearing replied with a hint of evil ecstasy in his voice. "He'll know no suffering beyond this!"

He grabbed Eugene and dragged him over to the river, stopping him next to it, the captain and the other Crusaders joining them. They forced Eugene onto his knees and readied their blades.

Watching all this from next to a nearby tree was a figure hiding in the shadows of the enormous plant towering over him. It was Altair. He had arrived her on Maximus, who had been reluctant to allow Altair to ride him but had been coaxed into doing so after Altair told him Eugene was in danger. He was tied to a tree a few metres behind them but he had been a little restless about that.

Altair watched as Eugene was forced onto his knees next to the river and the Crusaders gathered around him. Fear filled him. He had to do something or his friend was dead! He looked up the tree and saw several large thick branches overlooking the clearing. Perfect for an ambush. He ran up the side of the tree and reached up, quickly managing to grasp one of the smaller branches above him, which only just managed to hold his weight, and pulled himself up.

_I sure hope this works _he mentally muttered to himself.


	23. A shocking new thing

Fear has always been seen as a powerful emotion by many because of the impact it has on everyday life. However, there are few times when it can almost overwhelm people to the point of passing out, tears etc., and right now, Eugene was sweating from his forehead, it being almost like a waterfall, and his heart was literally smashing against his ribs. He was pretty sure they were cracked, or would be cracked by it.

Around him stood the four Crusaders and the captain and he was kneeling on the ground next to the small river that flowed through this part of the forest. One of the Crusaders took out his sword and stood behind Eugene, who gulped deeply, knowing that his death was just moments away. The captain walked in front of Eugene and knelt in front of him.

"I've decided to be kind on your last moments, Rider," he said to him. "Any last words?"

Eugene just looked up at him blankly. "What's the point?" he replied. "I'm already going to die,"

The captain stifled a laugh. "Very true. Is that all?" he received no reply from Eugene so he just shrugged. "Alright then," and he stood up and walked past him, but stopped next to Eugene. "Oh, and don't worry Rider, we'll tie you to a rock and throw your body into the river. It'll be gone within seconds and you along with it," he laughed and stepped away from him.

High up in the tree, Altair watched from atop a branch as the captain stopped next to the Crusader standing to the left of Eugene and said: "Alright, put him out of his misery," and the Crusader behind him nodded and stepped towards him, his sword raised. Altair went wide-eyed when he saw this. He had to do something quickly or Eugene would die! He reached into his belt and took out the last of his throwing knives.

"I hope this works," he muttered to himself as he took aim.

Eugene's breathing began to become quicker as he watched the shadow of the sword be raised into the air. In just another second or two, it would come crashing down through his body and put an end to his life. His forehead began to sweat more and more and his heartbeat began to go faster and faster as if trying to escape from the coming fate of the owner of the body it was part of. His mind went back to his friends, the king and queen, but most of all, to Rapunzel. She would be devastated to learn of this execution and he could only imagine what pain she would go through, or in fact what they all go through, when news reached them of him being killed.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the river, imagining himself being thrown into it as he would be in just a few moments time.

"Goodbye, you criminal bastard!" the Crusader behind him said and brought down the sword. Eugene shut his eyes tightly and waited for it to all be over.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

All of a sudden, he found himself looking behind him at the Crusader who had been about to execute him. Just as he did, the soldier fell to the floor and did not rise again.

"WHAT THE…?" one of the Crusaders roared, both out of fright and anger, whipping out his sword. "What happened?"

"Who did that?" another of the Crusaders shouted, also drawing his sword.

"I think I know who's responsible," the captain exclaimed as he took out his sword, his eyes frantically scanning the tree tops around him for the one he believed was here with them.

"And how right you are, captain!" an all too familiar voice shouted from somewhere.

Suddenly, the Crusader next to him was knocked aside by a white blur. The captain shot round but was kicked to the ground. It was Altair. He had jumped from the branch and knocked aside the Crusader next to the captain.

"Altair!" Eugene exclaimed.

Altair rushed over to him and drew out his hidden blade and cut the ropes behind him, freeing him from the shield.

"Thanks," he said as he got up. "Look out!" he shouted, suddenly pulling Altair aside when one of the other two Crusaders charged at them and swung his sword, only just missing them.

Altair whipped out his sword, ready to fight the Crusaders, who were trying to form a circle around the two so they could corner them.

"Eugene, get out of here!" Altair said to him.

"No, I'm not leaving you here," Eugene told him. "You can't beat them on your own," but Altair was not having any of it.

"Trust me, I've fought more. Just go, n-"

Suddenly, one of the Crusaders charged towards them and swung his sword. Altair swung his sword up; hitting that of the Crusader's and quickly launched a lightning kick at his stomach, sending him to the ground. Another of the Crusaders charged towards him and swung his sword sideways to try and surprise him, but Altair dodged the attack by ducking and swinging his leg into the Crusader's, sending him crashing to the ground with a yell.

"You idiots!" the captain shouted at them, rushing forward to fight.

As Altair, got up, along with the two Crusaders he had knocked over, he felt his smaller blade be taken out of his pocket and he looked behind him to see it was Eugene. Looks like he really meant that he did not want to leave Altair to face this alone.

"How did you get here?" Eugene asked them as the two began to back away as the captain and the Crusaders closed in on them.

"Maximus," he replied.

"Where is he?"

"Somewhere in the tree over there," Altair pointed in the direction he meant. "Why?"

"I'll show you, keep 'em distracted," and before Altair could ask anything else, Eugene rushed off away from him into the forest.

"After him!" the captain ordered. The three Crusaders ran after Eugene, all of them quickly disappearing into the forest. The captain stared at Altair with anger and death lingering in his eyes, the want to kill Altair boiling over like a bubbling cauldron. "It's time for you to die, assassin!" he hissed.

"No, It's your turn, Templar," Altair replied, his voice remaining defiant.

The captain gritted his teeth together and his eyes set on concentration, ready to fight Altair. He had been taught how to fight assassins before by Robert but he had never actually fought one himself. Well, now was the time to prove himself.

With a yell, he charged forward towards Altair, hitting his sword with his own and quickly swinging a punch at him, but Altair jumped backwards and retaliated with a swing of his sword at the captain, who dodged by jumping aside, narrowly missing the deadly blade.

Meanwhile, a few tens of feet away from them, Eugene pushed his way through the undergrowth of the forest, hearing it being violently thrown aside by the Crusaders pursuing him. Adrenaline was flooding through his body and he gripped the smaller blade in his hand tighter. Even though he was able to fight the Crusaders, there was no way he could win for there were three of them and only one of him. Plus, they were better skilled in blade fighting than he was. He could even hear them shouting and their footfalls behind him, making him panic even more in the prospect of what they do to him if they got to him. If they caught up with him, he would be killed on the spot. He had to find Maximus, and fast!

"You can run all you want, criminal!" he heard one of the Crusaders shout. Eugene looked over his shoulder to see them catching up to him. "We'll get you eventually! You can run forever!"

_Damn it, they're right! _Eugene mentally growled to himself as he jumped over a fallen tree trunk and began frantically searching the forest around him with his eyes. _Where are you, Maximus?_

A snort from nearby suddenly stopped him in his track and he looked over to see a large grey horse tied to a tree, looking directly at him. It neighed loudly as if to say: _"Over here!" _Hope filled Eugene.

"Maximus!" he exclaimed and rushed over to his horse friend as quickly as he could. Maximus neighed happily when he saw him. "Yeah, I'm glad to see you to, buddy," Eugene told him and cut the rope that was tying him to the tree. As soon as he did this, Maximus snorted and motioned his body back in the direction of Corona, wanting Eugene to follow him, but he did not.

"No, Max, we can't go," Eugene said, grabbing the reins. "We have to help Altair beat the Crusaders and the captain,"

Maximus looked at him questionably. What? They had to help him? Maximus had only come here so to help free Eugene! That was done now, but why did he want to aid someone who had tried to kill them days ago?

"Maximus, I know Altair was against but we have to help him. He's on our side now, I promise you on that," Eugene reassured him.

Maximus gave him an annoyed look but sighed and nodded as if to say: _"Alright, fine, we'll help," _Eugene smiled.

"Thanks, Max," he said. "Y'know it really is good to have a horse friend like you. You understand and you don't hold a grudge and-" he stopped when he saw Maximus giving him a look as if to say: _"Don't push it," _and Eugene nodded. "Yeah, your right, let's go,"

"Go where?" a voice behind him said and he looked to see the three Crusaders standing there, their weapons at the ready and looks of glee on their faces, ready to kill these two. "The only place you're going to is a graveyard,"

Eugene gulped and stepped back a pace, but was stopped when Maximus stepped next to him, an angry look on his face, snorting in an aggressive manner. Upon seeing this, though, the Crusaders laughed.

"HA! What can that thing do?" one of them laughed.

"Throw hay at us probably!" another said, making his buddies burst out laughing.

It was a big mistake.

Maximus charged towards them as fast as he could go. The Crusaders stopped laughing when they saw him and their looks of laughter on their faces were quickly replaced with fear. The urge to get out of the way quickly overtook them, but before any of them could even move…

WHAM! Maximus ploughed right into them, knocking them over. One of the Crusaders was knocked out instantly, landing on the ground with a thud. The other two were knocked aside but quickly got back up and pulled out their weapons, madness flowing through them. They had been humiliated by an animal! Oh, it was time for revenge!

Maximus skidded to a halt and turned to face them. Just in time as well because one of them charged towards him with his sword raised and swung it at him. Maximus ducked, narrowly avoiding having his head taken off, and launched a hard kick into the soldier's stomach, winding him and sending him to the floor, out cold. The other Crusader, upon seeing his friend be knocked down by Maximus, looked up at him, dropped his sword and ran off as quickly as his legs would carry him. Eugene watched him go and looked back at Maximus, who trotted over happily with a smile on his face.

"Nice one, Max," he said and climbed onto the saddle. "Alright, let's go help Altair,"

Maximus nodded and rode off in the direction of the river. Eugene hoped that they would get there in time and hoped that Altair was still alive.

At the river, the fight between the captain and Altair was still going on, but not so well for Altair. He had tried to attack the captain but his adversary's reaction had been quicker than he anticipated and he had pushed him to the ground, grabbed him and forced him up against a tree, pushing him hard against the bark with one hand on his head and the other holding Altair's hands tightly.

"You seem to forget, Altair!" he hissed at him. "I've been trained to fight like you assassins, thanks to Robert!"

Altair grunted and tried to struggle out of his grip but it was useless. "W-what do you mean?" he said.

"I mean, Robert knew how to fight you just like I do," the captain explained. "He had taught by a member of your Creed about your weaknesses and how you fight and he had just passed that onto me," he gave a slight laugh. "And It's been useful, I will admit. I thought it would be a waste of time and talent,"

Altair growled and tried shaking him off but the captain kicked him in the side, making Altair grit his teeth as the pain flared through him. He even came close to falling onto his knees, but he managed to hold himself up. He had been hurt just as bad, but they had been few and far between and, quite frankly, this one did hurt a lot more than he thought it would.

"You may as well give up, Altair," he said to him. "Give up and I'll make your death quick!"

Altair growled. "Go to Hell!" he replied.

The captain chuckled. "Very well then, if that's your choice,"

"ALTAIR!"

The captain and Altair looked over towards the trees and saw a grey horse charging towards them, a man with a small blade in his hand riding the animal. The captain yelled out and jumped out of the way, doing an amazing role and quickly getting to his feet, his weapon at the ready. Altair grabbed his sword, which had been thrown onto the ground when the captain pushed him up against the tree, and stood next to the horse, who, along with Eugene, stood at the ready.

"Three against one, captain," Altair said to him. "Now _you _may as well give up,"

The captain stifled a laugh. "It'll have to take more than that to make me give up, assassin," he replied, his voice not quivering the slightest.

All of a sudden, Maximus charged towards him, surprising both Eugene and Altair. The captain quickly jumped out of the way but, as soon as Maximus' front had passed him, grabbed Eugene and pulled him off the horse, making him yell out as he landed on the ground with a thud. Maximus gave a surprised neigh at what happened and looked over his shoulder. Big mistake.

WHAM! He ran headfirst into a tree and fell onto his side onto the ground and did not rise again, having knocked himself out cold.

"Max!" Eugene exclaimed in worry, but it was quickly replaced with anger as he glared up at the captain. "Why you…" he hissed and lunged at the captain, taking him by surprise and pinning him to the ground, making him drop his sword, and slamming his head into the grass.

"Eugene, keep him down!" Altair called as he rushed over towards them, drawing out his hidden blade.

However, the captain reacted too quickly for them. He punched Eugene in the side of the head and threw him off him and quickly got to his feet. Just as he did, Altair lunged at him with his hand with the hidden blade thrust out in front of him. The captain grabbed his arms and yanked him forward, lowering his helmeted head, which slammed into Altair's forehead with such force that he was thankful he was not knocked out, though he did yell out and stagger backwards, his mind trying to process the shock of the blow.

With two out of the way, the captain looked back down at Eugene, fury filling him. Enough was enough! If the Crusaders could not kill him, then _he_would! He picked up the small blade, walked over to Eugene and launched another punch into his stomach, winding him and making him cry out. He then grabbed him by the chest of his clothes and pulled him to his feet, staring dangerously into his eyes that were filled with pain and exhaustion.

"Now It's your turn to die, Rider!" he whispered to him in a dangerous voice. He raised the blade above Eugene, who saw it and was re-filled with panic. He had to do something! He glanced over at Altair, but saw he was only just being able to stand. He glanced over at Maximus, only to see he was still on the ground. Or at least that was what the captain knew.

"MAX!" Eugene yelled. The captain looked over at the horse, expecting to see him charging over to them, but was shocked, at first, to see that he was not, then furious to see that he had been tricked.

"Why you-AAAHHHH!" he was suddenly winded and felt a sharp pain rise through him from the stomach and he dropped Eugene onto the ground, crying out in pain as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. Eugene breathed a mental sigh of relief. He had punched the captain in the stomach, winding him and causing him to drop him, but not defeating him yet. He took the initiative and drove one of his legs into the captain's, sending him crashing to the ground on his back.

"Altair, now!" Eugene shouted to his friend, who had just regained control of himself.

Seeing the opportunity, Altair rushed forward towards the captain, jumped onto him to pin him to the ground and raised his arm with the hidden blade whilst holding down the captain's head with his other hand. Eugene looked away with closed eyes as he heard the captain gasp sharply for a split second before being reduced to minimal breaths. He looked back and saw a small stain of blood on the hidden blade's steel.

It was done. They had defeated him.

Altair moved off the captain's body and knelt down beside him, looking up at Eugene. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, thanks," he replied.

A snort from near the tree drew their attention and the two looked to see Maximus on his feet. He shook his head and began to trot back over to them.

"Glad he's okay," Eugene muttered to himself.

Shallow breaths drew his and Altair's attention to the captain. Where Altair had struck him was just below the neck collar of his uniform, where a small trail of blood was beginning to seep out of. Even though it was not in sight of anyone looking at it now, it did not take a fool to realise that Altair had struck him in a vital place and now his life was slowly slipping away.

Gently, Altair placed a hand on the back of the captain's head and lifted it up from the ground.

"It's done," Altair said to him calmly as if trying to ease his passing. "Your schemes are at an end,"

The captain coughed and looked up into his eagle eyes with his slowly dying ones. "I…I…C-can't…b-believe it!" he croaked. "Beaten…beaten by an assassin!" he took a deep breath. "Y-you've made a big mistake, boy!"

"I have made no mistake!" Altair told him in a calm, but firm voice. "You and your Templar allies hoped to take the treasure from Solomon's Temple for yourselves so you could control the Holy Lands and bring about war and destruction,"

The captain nodded a little. "T-that is true!" he gasped, stopping with another cough.

"But now I can put an end to it," Altair continued. "But before I do the same for you, you have something I need to know,"

"A-and w-w-what is…that?" the captain asked, his voice croaking even more.

"Robert de Sable, your old master, said that ten Templars found the treasure in Solomon's Temple and that you knew who this last one was. Who is he?"

The captain chuckled, only to stop because of the pain from the wound and the weakness of his body to even breathe.

"You…already…know him, boy!" he said. "I di-id not think…I would n-need t-t-to t-t-ell you!"

"Who is he?" Altair's voice began to grow more demanding now and he began to clutch down on the captain's hair from under his helmet.

"It i-is y-y-your…l-leader, Al…Mualim!"

Upon hearing those words, Altair felt his heart stop. What! This tenth Templar was Al Mualim, his master and head of the Assassin's Creed? No! No, he was lying! This was some sort of trickery!

"You're lying!" Altair hissed. "Tell me what his real name is,"

The captain chuckled again despite the pain and that his body was growing weaker with every passing second.

"Oh…a-am I?" he asked sarcastically. "Think…of it, boy! Y-your master! E-explain h-h-ow he knew…knew so much! How he…knew where all…of…us were! How he knew…where…I…was!"

From what the captain was telling him, Altair did begin to think of something that had been bugging hi, for the last few weeks. He had been suspicious about how Al Mualim knew so much about the Templars and where they were and what their roles were, but that he just believed was the result of hunches. B-but now, thinking of all those missions and this one…the captain was beginning to sound correct. That…that shocked Altair to the core of his body. No! No, this could not be true!

But it was. With everything managing to fit into place, the missions, how his master knew everything etc. All of it was going into place and now he realised something he had been told by his master years ago.

"_A man who is serving a just cause in the eyes of some is serving an unjust cause in the eyes of others," _Those words his master told him years ago were ringing in his mind now.

"No!" Altair whispered in disbelief.

"Yes!" the captain said weakly. "T-think of it, A-Altair! I said that…Robert…had been taught…h-h-how to fight you assa…assassins by a m-member of your Creed and now I-I have told you that…A-Al Mua…lim is the t-tenth Tempar!"

"But how? If he is a Templar, then why did he kill all of his allies?" Altair asked.

"Because…because he did not…w-want to share, Altair! W-what he holds…is something far g-greater than you…could hope to…i-imagine!" he took a deep breath. "And that is why…R-Robert had to keep you safe!"

"Keep me safe?"

The captain nodded lightly. "Yes! The only rea-reason he spared y-you at the Temple w-w-was because he knew y-you could get close to…Al Mualim and p-possibly kill him! I took on t-that responsib-i-lity when he died, but now…" his breaths began to grow weaker. "Now that you've taken…my life…it will be the…end for…for...all of us!"

He head cocked backward, his eyes closed and he moved no more. He was dead.

Altair and Eugene looked back up at each other with wide-eyes. Both had heard everything and they were completely shocked, though Altair more. All this time he had been serving a man who had gone against his own allies and used him to kill them when he should have been seeking their help! He shook his head a little as he looked down at the captain's body. He could not believe it. He had made a huge mistake, but…but it was too late to reverse it now.

"We have to tell the others this," Eugene said to him.

Altair nodded slightly, then froze for a moment and looked up at Eugene, though this time his eyes were as wide as dinner plates and filled with absolute fear and his mouth was hanging open slightly as if realising something but was too shocked to say it.

"What is it?" Eugene asked him.

"My master Al Mualim is at Corona," he replied.

Eugene went wide-eyed as well. "You mean?" he asked and Altair nodded.

Moments later, the two were riding Maximus back towards Corona as fast as he could go, now on a race against time to save the kingdom before it was too late.

Though time may not be on their side.


	24. Back in Corona

**One hour later**

Altair and Eugene dismounted from Maximus as they reached the bridge on the edge of the lake that led to Corona. A sense of unease was filling both of them like water filling up a tank, not only because of the probability that Rapunzel and the town were now under Al Mualim's control but also because of the way everything had changed around here now. The sky was now mostly cloudy with tiny little breaks of sunlight getting through to the Earth, yet far off in the distance was completely blue sky and sun, which only nerved the two more as this layer of cloud was a kind of small circular shape hovering over the city like some kind of guard watching over a group of prisoners.

"I don't like the looks of this," Eugene said. Altair nodded in agreement.

"Neither do I," he replied. "But you must control your fear, Eugene," he told him. "If you let it overtake you then that is what could kill you,"

Eugene nodded. "Right, I'll remember that,"

The three began to set off into the town across the bridge towards Corona. As they went, their unease did begin to increase within them. They could see no one about on the bridge, not a guard or another traveller, or even anyone in the parts of the city in front of them which was usually busy at this time of day.

As the three entered the city, it felt like entering a new world. At once, they seemed to have breached this invisible barrier between the bridge and the city. On the bridge side, they felt safe and ready, not on the city side they felt as if they were being watched and that they would not be ready for whatever might happen to them. That question did strike them hard: what would happen to them now they were in Corona? With Al Mualim in control, would he attack them or had he left? Altair placed a hand on his sword and Eugene kept the dagger in his pocket close by clasping a hand tightly around the handle of it, both of them ready to face whatever might come out to face them.

"I don't like the looks of this," Eugene said as he scanned the street around them, seeing nothing at all. Everything was still intact but there was no one at all! "It's too quiet, especially for Corona,"

"I fear something might have happened," Altair replied. "Do you think the Crusaders might have attacked?" he asked.

Eugene shook his head. "Nah, couldn't have. The guards in this city outnumbered them greatly and plus with their leaders gone and them being diminished, I doubt they'd want to start trouble. Besides," he nodded at the street around them. "There's no destruction or any bodies or anything," he paused for a moment as if taking in the scene again, trying to figure out why the entire city looked, and probably even _was_, abandoned. "It's as if everyone just left,"

"Either that or they've gone to the castle," Altair suggested.

Maximus suddenly snorted and nodded ahead towards the first courtyard, sounding alert and afraid. Altair and Eugene looked and saw nothing. What was wrong with Maximus? Why was he acting all scared and-

"Wait!" Altair pointed ahead towards the side of the courtyard. Eugene looked and saw what he was pointing at.

Standing there next to a shop was a person. It was a man of about twenty three with blonde hair, green eyes and was dressed in a kind of grey top and trousers and small black shoes. He just stood by the edge of the shop, staring ahead towards the castle as if he was a statue. Altair gingerly approached him with Eugene and Maximus behind close behind.

"Excuse me, sir?" Altair inquired. The man turned his head to look at them, revealing his emotionless eyes, but an unharmed face, the same with his body. There were no cuts or blood on it, further making it impossible for the suggestion of an attack having taking place.

"You will walk the path," he said, pointing at them.

The three stopped. "What?" Altair asked.

"You must see the light, young man," the man continued. He pointed in the direction of the castle. "Go to Al Mualim, he will make you see sense,"

"What sense!" Altair demanded. "You must speak sense,"

"All who reject Al Mualim's truth shall perish,"

Altair shook his head. "You've gone mad,"

"And you have become ignorant,"

Altair sighed frustratingly. "Come, we must go," he said to Eugene and Maximus, leading them away from the man towards the path, which led away towards the castle, where Salad's carpentry was.

"Hopefully Salad can tell us what is going on," Eugene said.

"He might not be here though," Altair told him. "My master and Al Mualim are close friends so he might be at the castle,"

Eugene paused where he was for a moment, almost making Maximus walk right into him. Altair noticed this and stopped as well.

"What is it?" he asked.

"If Salad and your master know each other, then whose side will he be on?" Eugene told him, a hint of fear in his voice.

Altair looked down at the ground, his eyes filling with doubt. Eugene was right. Whose side would Salad be on now that Al Mualim was here? Would he be on theirs or his? Even though this was regarding if what the captain had said to him was true, Altair could not help but feel a little worried about this. What if Salad had betrayed them then? Well, there would not be a lot they could do about it. The only thing they could hope for was that they could bring him back to their side.

The two reached Salad's carpentry to find the door open wide as if someone had just walked in. Keeping their weapons close, Altair and Eugene looked inside but saw nothing. In fact, nothing actually seemed out of the ordinary, everything was where it should be. The table was still in the middle of the room, none of the pictures were on the floor, the counter and the shelves behind it were in fine condition, none of the rugs were scattered everywhere. It just looked as if someone had left. Probably Salad.

"Wait here, Max," Eugene said to the horse and walked inside with Altair.

"I'll check this room. You look behind the counter," Altair said to Eugene, who nodded and walked over to the counter and climbed over it, kneeling down to begin searching the shelves for something that looked out of place.

Altair emerged from the room he had been sleeping in a few moments later. "Nothing in there," he said. "It's as if he just left,"

"Don't forget what happened earlier," Eugene reminded him. "He might have opened the door thinking it was us returning and the captain and the guards might have grabbed him,"

Altair nodded slightly, looking over at the rugs. "Probably," he muttered.

Eugene searched through the shelves, looking for something amongst the papers and the books that were buried here. There had to be something, anything here that looked like it would be different and could help them. Possibly a note or a letter or…anything, just anything.

Wait, what was this? On the top shelf below the counter was a small tied up scroll that looked to be quite new. All the others were covered in dust, but this one was not. Curious, Eugene grabbed it and stood up from behind the counter.

"Hey, Altair," he piped up. His friend came over and took the scroll and opened it up to reveal Arabic writing on it. Eugene climbed over the counter and stood behind Altair, looking down at it. "What's it say?" he asked.

"It says," Altair began and he cleared his throat as if he was about to read a speech and began to recite. _"Dear Altair, I have distressing news. I have just returned from Solomon's Temple and I have learned of-" _Altair paused and went a little wide-eyed at what he was reading. _"Revelations!" _he muttered to himself, but shook his head clear of the shock and read on. _"Robert de Sable had left his journal in the temple and I found out from that book who this tenth Templar is, my brother. It is Al Mualim!" _Altair began to sound a little more dramatic as if he was learning this for the first time._"He had used us all along, my brother and he is heading towards you in Corona right this minute. I hope this gets to you before he does. Good luck, Altair,"_

He rolled up the letter and sighed, throwing it onto the table, and looked at Eugene. "So it is true," he said as if unable to truly believe what he had just read. "Al Mualim _has _betrayed us,"

Eugene nodded slightly. "Well…let's just hope he'll be easy to beat," he said.

"I doubt that," Altair replied but that was as far as he got before another snort from outside caused the two to run out to find Maximus standing alert, looking up the path in the direction of the castle. He nodded up the path to a group of people standing in the courtyard at the end.

"C'mon," Eugene said, running ahead towards the group; Altair and Maximus following close behind. As they neared the courtyard, they saw that the group of people was about ten altogether and, like the man they had seen moments ago, they were all staring ahead towards the castle as if they were in a kind of trance.

As the three neared the group, Eugene recognized a short and large man among them. It was Joseph. He rushed over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face him, revealing his eyes to be empty completely just like when they had seen that grey man minutes ago.

"Joseph," Eugene said, tapping his cheek with his hand in an attempt to shake him out of his trance. "Joseph, snap out of it!"

He just looked up at Eugene and uttered: "Al Mualim, the great! Guide us, command us!"

"Al Mualim, the great! Guide us, command us!" the crowd chirruped.

Eugene stepped back from Joseph, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. Somehow Al Mualim was controlling him and the city. No one would be able to help them. They were on their own.

"My master's treasure has been put to a great use," Altair said. "If it can do this under his control, then I hope we can beat him,"

Eugene nodded slightly. "Same here," he replied, walking over. "Let's just hope Rapunzel is oka-" he froze, his mind suddenly realising something. Oh God! Rapunzel! His mind had been so overcome with what they were seeing here that he had completely forgotten about her. "Rapunzel," he whispered worryingly.

Before Altair could ask what was wrong, Eugene ran past him up the next pathway towards the castle. Altair, surprised at first, raced after him with Maximus following alongside.

After a few hectic moments, they came to a halt outside the gates of the castle courtyard, which were open slight ajar. Eugene approached them cautiously in case there was someone waiting for them. He poked his head through the gap between the gates and gasped.

"What is it?" Altair asked, coming over, only to see what it was. Maximus came over and his eyes too went wide as dinner plates.

In the courtyard seemed to be almost the whole town's population. There were hundreds of people, all of them staring at the castle as if they were attracted to it in some way. Even a few guards were among the crowd, but none of them had their weapons drawn. Some of them were repeating "Al Mualim, guide us, command us!" or "Al Mualim will lead us to the light," in unison as if they were all robots and were programmed to say these things at the same time. It was quite creepy to see all this going on in front of the three as they stepped into the courtyard.

Eugene then saw someone among the crowd with a crown on the person's head. Moving closer, going around one of the Christian priest women standing next to him, he saw it was the king. The queen was standing next to him. He rushed forward over to them.

"Your majesty!" he exclaimed, shaking him when he reached him. The king did not respond, but just continued staring ahead at the castle. Eugene shook him again. "Your majesty, please snap out of it!" Still he got no response and moved onto the queen. "Your majesty, wake up! Please!" he begged. "Snap out of it! Where's Rapunzel?"

"Save your energy, Eugene," Altair told him, walking past towards the castle. "We're going to have to face him alone,"

Eugene gave him a slightly worried look as if to say: _"Are you serious?" _but nodded after a moment and followed him, but stopped quickly and turned to Maximus.

"Max, you need to stay here," he said.

Maximus snorted in surprise, which Eugene could tell through his eyes going wide. What! He had to stay here? Why? He had helped them and they might need him!

"I know what you're thinking, Max, but me and Altair have to face Al Mualim alone," Eugene said to him. Maximus shook his head.

"He's right, Max," Altair interfered, making the two look up at him. "Stay here. We'll be out soon,"

Before Maximus could protest, Eugene turned and followed Altair up the steps to the main door of the castle and they pushed it open and stepped into the foyer.

_Only if we don't get killed _Altair mentally reminded himself with a sense of fear as the door closed, sealing them off from Maximus and the outside world.

What would happen to Corona now would be decided here in the castle.


	25. It's about to turn deadly

Searching the castle was not as easy as they thought it would be, but Altair and Eugene were determined not to give up. They had searched almost the entire ground floor for Rapunzel and/or Al Mualim, but had found neither of the two. Eugene began to grow worried as they finished searching the last room of the ground floor, still having found nothing of Rapunzel or Pascal or Al Mualim.

"Damn!" Eugene growled, both with anger and worry in his voice, as they walked out into the corridor that led to a T intersection at the end to their right.

"Don't worry, Eugene, we'll find them," Altair reassured him.

"What if we don't?" Eugene pointed out. "What if he's left the castle by now? Like…I dunno, slipped out with Rapunzel and taken off?"

Altair shook his head. "There's no way he could do that," he told him. "My master is an old man. Plus, if he could do that, Maximus would have alerted us,"

THUD! Eugene had been about to reply when the noise drew his and Altair's attention down the corridor to a large set of wooden doors that were wide open. One of them had blown against the stone wall outside. The back courtyard! They had not searched that yet.

"C'mon," Eugene said to Altair running down the corridor towards the courtyard entrance; Altair followed.

When they reached it, they found themselves on a kind of stone platform with two sets of steps going down either side of them to a large circular floor with another of the sun engravings on the ground, lined out perfectly and in line with white pebbles and stones pushed into the ground. Two half circular walls were placed on the courtyard's sides, one on each, and both had a kind of raised ground to them. The one on the left side of the courtyard had a large silver piano on it; the other was filled with wooden crates stacked high to be taken to the storage building nearby. At the opposite end of the courtyard was a small fountain with a tiny carved out pathway for a small flow of water to run from it down over the edge of a small artificially raised section of ground to a small pool about fifteen feet below the edge of the cliff on a lower ground that had also been artificially created. Another set of stairs at either end of the artificially raised ground led down to the lower ground. Beyond the pool were several stone pillars that held a kind of wall to them. They were placed on the edge of a stone floor that overlooked a large sheer cliff that dropped down about one hundred feet to the sea below.

The two walked down the steps into the courtyard, taking in the scene around them with unease. They knew very well that Al Mualim was here somewhere and that he could surprise them at any moment. Altair kept his hand on his sword. Eugene kept his on the dagger on his belt, both ready to use them if need be.

As they walked down into the courtyard, scenes of reminiscence began to filter through Eugene's mind. This place…this courtyard had been where he, Rapunzel, Pascal, Maximus and the entire kingdom had had the party following Rapunzel's return to Corona. He smiled to himself at these happy thoughts, remembering that day when he had danced with Rapunzel, hidden the crown she had from her and then kissed him. It…it was such a great moment for him and her. If only it had lasted forever.

"Are you alright, Eugene?" Altair asked him, snapping him back into reality.

Eugene shook his head a few times, blinking. "Y-yeah, yeah. I'm fine," he replied. "Sorry, just lost it for a moment there,"

Altair let out a single laugh as they walked across the courtyard. "Best not show that in front of my master. He doesn't like i-"

He paused and froze where he was, holding out his hand, stopping Eugene where he was, which made him nervous.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously.

"Something's not right," Altair replied, moving his hand off Eugene and grabbing the handle of his sword. "Move carefully and slowly," he whispered to Eugene as if he wanted to make sure they were not being overheard.

The two began to move slowly across the courtyard, their eyes scanning every part of it as if expecting something to happen. Their hands gripped their weapons tighter, so much that they actually began to shake a little because they were gripping them so hard. They knew something was not right and feared very much that at any moment Al Mualim would appear and attack them, especially with what he had at his disposal with the 'treasure' that had been uncovered in Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem.

All of a sudden, Altair stopped Eugene again, grabbing his shoulder, making him jump slightly.

"What is it?" Eugene whispered.

"I think he's near," Altair replied. He paused for a second and scanned the courtyard in front of them with his eyes as if he was a deer on the savannah looking out for a lion it had just heard nearby. He grabbed his sword. "Get your weapon re-"

Suddenly; an orange light enveloped itself around him and Eugene. For a split second, the two felt a flaring pain almost akin to as if they had been set on fire sweep through them as the light overwhelmed, making them both cry out. Then, as if done so by a divine power, they were turned around against their own will so they were facing the castle. From there, they both noticed a balcony sticking out over the top of the entrance to the courtyard about forty feet above the ground. The opening into the castle from the balcony was concealed by large curtains.

Then, the curtains were pushed aside and an old man stepped out from inside the castle onto the balcony. It was Al Mualim. In his hand was the treasure that Malik had brought back to him from Solomon's Temple and it was glowing a bright orange colour exactly the same as the one that was enveloped around Eugene and Altair.

"So the student returns," he boomed to Altair. His eyes fell on Eugene and he let out a single laugh. "And he brings the criminal back with him," he remarked to Eugene and chuckled to himself. "I am Al Mualim, the leader of the Creed, Mr Rider," he greeted in a loud and confident voice. "I must it is a surprise to see you here in the flesh from what I saw on the wanted posters on my way here. Though, as I recall, the nose was a little bigger,"

Eugene rolled his eyes. "Why doesn't surprise me," he mumbled.

Al Mualim cackled. "Oh, come now. Don't be like that. Plus, It's rude not to introduce yourself,"

He held the object up and it glowed a brighter orange colour, almost the colour of sunlight. Eugene cried out and, as if he was being pushed by some invisible force, he felt his upper body be forced down into a kind of bow. It hurt as if someone was striking him with a sledgehammer. He wanted it to stop!

Finally, and thankfully, it did after a few seconds as Al Mualim lowered the object and Eugene was forced back to standing upright again. He then looked down at Altair with a gaze that showed overconfidence in It's features. It was as if the power he was gaining with this thing in his hand was overtaking his mind so much that it made him cease to feel any other emotion or feeling other than hysterical glee.

"I am surprised to see you back here, Altair," Al Mualim said to him.

"I've never been one to run!" Altair growled back.

Al Mualim 'humphed' at Altair's words. "True, but you've never been one to listen either. I can almost remember the beginning of the last few weeks, boy! When you brought me nothing but excuses and failure from your mission to achieve this!" he held up the object to prove his point.

Altair gritted his teeth in anger. "I still live because of it," he said.

Al Mualim 'humphed' again. "True. But what shall I do with you two now?" he asked himself, pacing up and down the balcony as if he was some kind of leader or businessman planning something new, his eyes not leaving them.

"What have you done with Rapunzel?" Eugene demanded angrily. "Where is she?"

"Oh don't worry about her, boy!" Al Mualim snapped, annoyed at having been disturbed by Eugene but also pleasurably as well at hearing the anger in his voice. "She's right here,"

A grunt emanated from behind Al Mualim and the curtains were pushed aside to reveal Rapunzel moving out towards the balcony, stopping at the edge next to Al Mualim. She was also surrounded by this orange light and she struggled to break free from it, but it was completely useless. Pascal was on her shoulder and seemed to be stuck to it. He squeaked furiously as he tried to free himself, but it too was hopeless. This power Al Mualim had over them was just too strong.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene exclaimed fearfully, his eyes filled with petrifying thoughts. "Let her go!" Eugene demanded.

Al Mualim cackled madly. "Oh, I don't think so," he replied. "I must say, Altair, you have done well in doing one thing right here. You showed me the incarnation and I thank you very much for it," he looked at Rapunzel and she was forced over to him by some invisible power he held over her. "She will be very useful to us back at home in Masyaf," he said in a low, but loud enough admiring voice.

Eugene gritted his teeth. Oh, he wanted to get up there and pound that old man back to…wherever it was he came from, but the problem was this light was stopping him and even if he broke out, who was to say that something was not waiting for him the corridor that led up to the balcony.

"Now, as I was saying," Al Mualim continued, forcing Rapunzel back away from him and looking back down at the two men in the courtyard. "What should I do with you two?"

"Let us go!" Altair growled.

The old man chuckled. "Oh, Altair. I hear the hatred in your voice," he said in a kind of mocking manner. "I feel It's heat. But, as much as I do admire you, I will not let you two go. Now doing that would be very unwise,"

_Yeah, because I'll hit you until you're out cold! _Eugene thought menacingly.

"Why are you doing this?" Altair asked Al Mualim.

He replied by looking admiringly at the object in his hand, seduced completely by It's power. That very seductiveness lingered in his eyes.

"I found proof," he replied.

"Proof of what?" Altair pressed on, determined to know what he was talking about.

"That nothing is true," Al Mualim continued, looking down at them. "And that everything is permitted!" He held up the object as if to prove his point. "You should have learnt at least _that _by now Altair. But no matter," he pointed down at them with his other hand. "Come. Destroy them!" he commanded.

As soon as he uttered the command, the orange lights around Eugene and Altair disappeared. However, at the same time, nine orange lights rose up from the ground as if they were flames from Hell itself trying to break through to the surface. They formed a circle around the two men and grew to the height of a man. From above on the balcony, Rapunzel and Pascal watched with wide-eyes, fearing what this could be, but Al Mualim grinned a small grin, knowing perfectly well what this was.

Out of each of the lights came a man, some dressed in Muslim clothing, others in Crusader, but all people Altair knew very well.

Going clockwise, the first of the nine men to step out of the lights was a tall Syrian man with an auburn brown coloured turban, which had a tint of yellow around it, on his head. A brown moustache filled the gap of skin between his lip and large nose. He was wearing a large tunic that was the colour of rust and a pair of grey trousers that dangled off his legs. Around his waist was a belt and on his feet a pair of dark yellow shoes. He was probably in his middle/late thirties. In his hand was a small blade akin to the one Eugene had in his hand. His name was Tamir, a former black market merchant from Damascus and the first to have died by Altair's hand.

The second was another tall Arabic man with short black hair and a small beard around the bottom of his chin and a tiny trail of hair going up the sides of his face to what looked like the shaved remnants of sideburns. He was wearing a dark grey tunic which had yellow stripes going down the front and back of it, being partially blocked out by some kind of large belt he had around his abdomen, and white leggings that covered his shoes. He looked to be in his late twenties. Around his forearms near his hands were two vambraces akin to what Altair had on his hand with the hidden blade. He had a short sword in his hand but around his back was a quiver filled with arrows, though, thankfully, he did not have a bow on him. His name was Talal, a former slave trader in Jerusalem and the second to have died by Altair's hand.

The third was an elderly Crusader man in his late fifties, early sixties. He had a bald forehead with grey hair around the sides and back. He was wearing a black robe uniform with a bloodied apron and had brown boots on his feet. Around his neck was a small necklace of the Cross and around his abdomen was a belt with a duffel bag attached to it. In his hand was a normal sword. His name was a Garnier de Naplouse, a former doctor in Acre and the third to have died by Altair's hand.

The fourth was a large man who looked to be in his late forties with a pockmarked face, possibly the sign of severe acne. On his head was a large white turban decorated with a feather pinned by a jewel. He was wearing velvet robes with yellow patterns, olive coloured loose trousers and pointed yellow shoes. He had a large curved sword in his hand. His name was Abu'l Nuqoud, a former merchant king in Damascus and the number of his light indicated where he was in the nine when Altair had killed him.

The fifth was a short man, probably about up to Eugene's shoulder height, with short black hair and a shaved back and side of the head. He was wearing a Crusader soldier's uniform with a style exactly the same as the flag of England on the front of it. A large belt was tied around his waist and he had thick brown soldier boots on. He was about middle/late thirty odd and in his hand was a large sword as well. His name was William, or William of Montferrat as he would usually be known as, and had been stationed in the fortress of Acre until Altair put an end to him.

The sixth was another Arabic man with a thick black beard and sideburns and moustache. On his head was a white turban that covered much of his head, being about the same size as the one Abu'l was wearing. He had large dark blue robes on, almost akin to a kind of eastern dress, and brown boots stuck out from underneath it. He was about middle fifties looking and had a large curved sword in his hand as well. His name was Majd Addin, the former tyrant ruler of Jerusalem who enjoyed killing until Altair ended his reign of terror.

The seventh was another Arabic man who looked to be in his late thirties/early forties. He had a kind of black and red coloured set of robes on, red in the middle and black above and below it, and had a kind of black head covering similar to a Muslim woman's hijab. A large belt was tied around his waist with a kind of small pocket attached to the side. Huge, thick brown boots erected down from under the robes. In his hand was a large curved sword as well. His name was Jubair al Hakim, the former chief scholar of Damascus who burned the scriptures they had in the city until Altair ended his quest to destroy all the scriptures he deemed 'wrong' and 'unsuitable'.

The eighth was a Crusader man who had short blonde hair and a short moustache under his nose. He looked to be in middle thirties and was dressed in a Crusader uniform with a large Teutonic cross on the right of the torso part of the uniform. A brown belt was around his waist and he had large brown boots on his feet at the bottom of his black trousers. A quiver was on his back with a few arrows inside, though, like Talal, he did not have a bow to fire them from. On his hands were black gloves and armour plating around his arms and shoulders. His name was Sibrand, the former leader of the Knights Teutonic force in the Holy Lands until his role as leader ended abruptly due to Altair's actions in Acre.

The ninth and last man was the one who Altair had told Eugene and Rapunzel about and why he had come here. It was a tall bald headed man of about thirty, maybe a little older, with a heavy build and dressed in thick silver armour with a kind of similar coloured cloak lying below him. It was Robert de Sable. He had his weapon out as well, a deathly glare lingering in his eyes as if he had well and truly come back from the dead and was now seeking revenge for what Altair had done to him.

Eugene gulped. "These friends of yours?" he asked Altair, worry echoing in his voice.

He shook his head, his eyes growing wide as the nine men surrounding them glared deeply with pure hatred at them, wanting to kill them. "No, these are the other Templar that I killed. He's brought them, or at least their spirits, back and now they're obeying him," he nodded up at Al Mualim, who cackled loudly, throwing back his head.

"And I don't think they're gonna be in a forgiving mood," Eugene said, whipping out his shorter blade, though he knew his skill with it was going to be useless against nine of these men.

Al Mualim chuckled and pointed down at the two with his hand as if he was a commander ordering his troops forward, which he was in a way, but rather than command an army of people who were in their own state of mind, these soldiers surrounding Altair and Eugene were under his total control.

"Now, destroy them!" he commanded.

Rapunzel gasped. "Eugene! Altair!" she exclaimed fearfully.

One thing was for sure now: it was about to turn deadly.


	26. Fighting the Templars

The two men stood back-to-back with their weapons at the ready, though this ring of nine men surrounding them mean they were outnumbered and possibly out skilled for Eugene. For a moment, the Templars waited to see who would make the first move, their eyes searching their targets for a weak spot like a pack of lions searching for a weakling among a prey of wildebeest. Above, Al Mualim watched intently, waiting for the battle to begin and see his former student and his friend killed. Rapunzel and Pascal next to him watched with utmost terror in their eyes, praying that something would happen to ensure the survival of their friends.

All of a sudden, Tamir made the first move. He charged towards Altair and swung his sword at him, but Altair retaliated quicker than he anticipated and ducked, doing a kind of turn at the same time. Then just as Tamir's sword had cut through where Altair had been standing, the assassin swung his own sword up and drove it through Tamir's torso. However, instead of blood being spilled, Tamir just disappeared in a flash of orange light. Eugene only had a moment for his mind to process this, but it was clear.

_Well, that's one down _he mentally said to himself. _Just another eight to go_

"Eugene, behind you!" He suddenly heard Rapunzel shout down to him.

Snapping back into reality, he looked over his shoulder and ducked as William swung his sword at him, only just narrowly missing him by a few inches. Altair went to intervene but was stopped by Robert de Sable, who forced his sword against his and began using his superior strength and size to push Altair back.

"You will pay for what you had done to me, boy!" he hissed at him.

Altair grunted as he tried to push back with his own strength, but it was useless and he found himself being forced up against a wall. Majd and Garnier followed closed behind Robert, their weapons drawn.

"Robert, stop!" Altair pleaded, trying to make him see sense. "Al Mualim said he had betrayed us. You told me this yourself!"

"That never happened!" he snapped angrily. "Al Mualim has completed our task and now we shall free the Holy Lands from this God nonsense and your filthy assassins, starting with _you_!"

Robert used his free hand to punch Altair in the stomach, winding him and causing him to lean forward in pain. Luckily, though, Altair was able to hold enough strength to dive away from Robert as he swung his sword at him, which ended up hitting the wall, and get up and block an attack from Garnier

Meanwhile, Eugene was having difficulty fighting the rest and was now being forced towards the pile of crates behind him at the side of the courtyard. He swung the dagger at Sibrand, who was standing in front of him, but he simply dodged the attack and knocked the dagger out of his hand, it clattering to the ground.

Sibrand chuckled in a kind of dark manner as he and the others neared him. "Now you shall die!" he said with eagerness in his voice.

Eugene gulped and backed away from them. Great, now he was completely defenceless, outnumbered and out-skilled by these guys. He looked over at Altair but saw him engaged in a fight with Majd so he was not going to be getting any help from him. His heart began to race madly as if he was running a marathon. It looked like he was dead.

"Eugene!" he heard Rapunzel shout to him, drawing the heads from him and the Templars in front of him. "Jump onto the crates!"

He opened his mouth to shout something back, but was stopped when Sibrand swung his weapon at him again, though thankfully he ducked and kicked him in the knee, causing the German Templar to cry out and swear loudly. Deciding it was no time to argue with Rapunzel, Eugene climbed up the crates towards the top, though the Templars were quick to follow.

Al Mualim watched him do so with a sort of amusement in his eyes. It was as if he was watching some sporting contest or fight and was enjoying an argument that had broken out among those participating. He then chuckled as Eugene reached the top of the pile of crates and found himself trapped at the top with Sibrand, William and Nuqoud climbing up to get him and turned his head to look at Rapunzel.

"Not very wise advice to give to your friend there was it?" he said sarcastically to her.

Rapunzel and Pascal glared at him, but their expressions quickly changed back to fear as they looked down at him. He was trapped and with a group of Templars surrounding him and Altair caught up in his own fight, there was no way he could get out of this one. Even climbing over the wall was not an option because there was a sheer drop of about fifty feet on the other side. He really was stuck this time.

_C'mon, Eugene _Rapunzel thought desperately. _Please don't get killed!_

That was something he was really trying not to do right now, but it was proving to be almost impossible. He had to find something to defend himself with quickly or he was as good as dead and if that happened, then Altair would be overwhelmed by the amount of enemies.

Sibrand chuckled as he climbed up the pile of boxes, his sword at the ready and eager to thrust it into Eugene to kill him.

"Your time has come, boy!" he said in a voice dripping with pleasure. He was going to enjoy this.

Eugene gulped and took another step back, hoping to try and get as far from Sibrand and the others as possible, but the wall stopped him, leaving him on top of a slightly open crate that was bound to be covered with his own blood in a few moments. Sweat began to drip down his forehead as fear rose within him, but it was then one drop fell down into the small gap by the crate's top and the sound of water hitting something metal emanated out from it. Eugene, hearing the noise, looked down and saw the open crate. Maybe there was something in there he could use!

He reached down and pulled off the top of the crate and his eyes lit up like stars. Finally, he had a weapon.

"Get up and face me!" Sibrand barked, wanting to get on with ending Eugene's life. "I want to see how your face emanates pain,"

He began to climb up the last few crates to Eugene, but when he was about to strike at him, his target suddenly shot up and held out a weapon to him. Upon seeing it, though, Sibrand burst out laughing, as did William, Nuqoud and the others Templars around the pile of crates. Even Al Mualim chuckled to himself when he saw what Eugene had in his hand.

It was a frying pan.

"Vhat are you going to do with that?" Sibrand asked Eugene mockingly, trying to control his laughter. "Are you going to make my dinner?"

"Why don't you come at me and I'll show you," Eugene retorted.

Sibrand humphed. "Very well," he replied and swung his sword at Eugene, only for him to block it with frying pan.

For a moment, the two were locked in a kind of pushing action to overcome the other's strength before Eugene sent a powerful kick that struck Sibrand in the stomach and sent him tumbling down the pile of crates to the bottom with a yell, dropping his sword next to him. Eugene quickly reached into the crate and grabbed another frying pan. One was good enough, but two would be better.

William growled. "You vill pay for zat!" he shouted angrily and jumped up the last few crates and began swinging madly at Eugene with his sword, each time being blocked by the frying pans.

Eventually, after ducking to avoid another swing, Eugene swung his leg at William, who saw what he had tried to do and jumped up, raising his sword above him and bringing it down with all his might. Eugene raised both frying pans, forming a kind of cross above his head, and halted it just centimetres above his nose. Nuqoud began to slowly climb up the crates with Talal and Jubair following close behind him.

"You fail to realize zat your time her is up!" William hissed at Eugene.

"Not…yet, It's not!" Eugene said through gritted teeth, only making William push down even harder with his sword.

Holding William at bay, Eugene's eyes looked left to see Nuqoud just a few crates down, despite his huge size, and was coming at them quickly with Talal and Jubair close behind him. Oh God, if they got to him, then he was a goner. He had to get rid of William quickly!

Pushing up with all his strength, Eugene managed to lift William's sword from his face a few inches before driving his leg into Williams', causing him to yell out in pain and drop his sword, which enabled Eugene to strike him in the face with one of his frying pans. William tumbled down the pile of crates to the ground, almost knocking Nuqoud off if he had not dived out of the way and only just missing Talal on his way down. Fortunately, Sibrand, who was lifting his head up from the ground and groaning, happened to be in the way and he landed on top of him with a thud. Both men groaned in pain. That was really going to hurt. Eugene got up. That was two of them out of the way.

Just then, a sword slashed through the crates beneath him. Eugene waved his arms about as if trying to fly up in the air, but lost his balance and fell down onto the remains of the crates, landing on his side, one of his frying pans landing next to him, the other falling to the ground. Groaning, he raised his head and saw a large shape approaching him. Looking up, he saw it was Nuqoud.

"Prepare to die!" he said in his deep, booming voice, raising his sword. Eugene went wide-eyed. He had to think of something, and fast!

In an instant, he grabbed his frying pan and rolled over as Nuqoud brought his sword down, cutting through the wood of the crates his enemy had been laying on top of just milliseconds before. Eugene got up and grabbed a piece of wood that had been part of the side of one of the crates he had landed on, which he used to block another swing from Nuqoud. Talal charged up the pile of crates to Eugene's side, raising his sword and thrusting it at him. Eugene ducked and swung his frying pan upwards, striking Talal in the chin and sending him down to the ground where he landed head first. As soon as he hit the stone at the bottom of the pile of crates, his body lit up a bright orange colour and disappeared in a flash.

High above on the balcony, Rapunzel cheered loudly and Pascal squeaked with happiness. "Nice one, Eugene!" she shouted down to him. That was two down, but another seven to go.

"Silence, you stupid girl!" Al Mualim growled at her, holding up the treasure and causing her to gasp in pain and clench her fists tightly as a searing pain to sweep through her as if she had been set on fire.

Al Mualim, however, could not help but feel annoyed by this. Two of them were gone so far, but he was hoping that the other seven would deal with the two quickly. He looked back down into the courtyard, watching the fight as it continued to unroll in front of him.

A roar brought Eugene's attention back to Nuqoud and he only just managed to prevent himself from being cut in two from another swing of his sword, which he stopped by raising the piece of wood in his hand. Though it stopped the sword, it also broke in two as the metal cut through almost as if it were paper. Nuqoud then swung his sword at him again, only for it to collide with the frying pan and causing the two to try and push each other down with all their strength.

Nearby, Altair ducked as he avoided another swipe from Garnier, who was swing madly at him with his weapon. Altair could see that his eyes held the same madness he had when they battled each other in Acre, only this time it was kind of a resurrected madness rather than a madness one would normally find in a living person.

"Stand still so I can cut you open!" Garnier growled at him as Altair jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding having his chest cut open.

"You won't be cutting _anyone _open, madman!" Altair barked at him, swing his sword at him, knocking Garnier's aside and striking diagonally from the hip up across the chest to his right shoulder. As usual, no blood was spilled and, with a yell, Garnier fell to the ground and disappeared in a flash of orange light. Three down, six to go.

A grunt from behind caused the assassin to look over his shoulder and see Nuqoud and Eugene trying to overpower the other. At the moment, despite Eugene's healthier build, his strength was unable to beat Nuqoud, who was forcing him down onto his knees with a wicked grin on his face. Oh no! If he knocked Eugene's frying pan aside, Nuqoud would kill him. Altair had to do something.

Just then, a roar from in front of him drew his attention and he saw Robert charging towards him, sword raised a look of utmost fury on his face, probably having been caused from when Altair kicked him in the head and knocked him to the ground moment ago. Altair brought his sword up, stopping Robert's where it was, and drove his hand with hidden blade into his chest and pulled it out. Robert gasped and collapsed to the ground before disappearing in the flash of orange light. Almost instantly afterwards, Altair spun round and launched a hidden blade at Nuqoud, striking him in the back. The man roared in pain and Eugene, seeing his chance, swung his frying pan into his head, hitting him in the face. Nuqoud was knocked backwards down the pile towards the ground and two unfortunate people.

William groaned and lifted his head up from the ground, lying sprawled out over Sibrand's torso. Sibrand lifted his head up and rubbed the back of it. Then, as if someone had flicked a switch, he pushed William off him and grabbed his sword, the single thought of hatred of: _I am going to kill him! _running through his head.

A loud crash caused him and William to look up and see Nuqoud bounce off another crate like a ball and fall towards them.

"Oh no!" the two groaned in unison.

A second later, a loud thud filled the air as Nuqoud landed on top of William and Sibrand. Eugene winced as he hit them, knowing that having a man as large as Nuqoud was going to hurt, a lot. The flash of orange light followed almost as simultaneously as Nuqoud hit the ground and all three disappeared in an instant.

"Nicely done, Eugene!" Altair commented positively.

He nodded in reply, but went wide-eyed. "Altair, behind you!" he warned, pointing behind him.

Majd had been running at him with his sword raised, hoping to kill Altair whilst his guard was down. Luckily, Altair saw the coming threat quickly enough and ducked, doing a kind of spin, and raised his sword, pointing it at Majd and stepped cautiously near him, waiting for him to make the next move.

Just then, Eugene noticed Jubair throw his sword up to him and he ducked and rolled forward down the pile of crates, slamming into Jubair and sending him face first into a crate of fruit. When Eugene hit the ground, he shot up onto his feet, frying pan at the ready.

Rapunzel's face lit up like a star and she sneered at Al Mualim. "You friends are doing very well are they?" she said to him in a mocking, sarcastic voice, to which Pascal rubbed in the insult by sticking his tongue out at him.

Al Mualim growled and glared down at the last two men in the courtyard, which were Majd and Jubair.

"You two had better win!" he muttered threateningly under his breath.

Majd grunted as he was knocked aside by a punch from Altair. Seething with anger, he lunged at him again, only to be knocked aside with a kick to the arm.

"ARGH!" he roared as he straightened himself up again. "I should have killed you that day in Jerusalem!" he shouted to Altair.

"But you didn't, and you shall not succeed here!" he retorted.

Glaring furiously, looking as if he was about to explode, Majd lunged at Altair, but was stopped when Altair dodged his attack by spinning around him and swinging his sword into his side. As soon as the weapon left his body, and Majd had fallen to the ground, he disappeared in the flash of light. That was eight down, one more to go.

"AH!"

Unfortunately, Eugene was not faring as well. Jubair had regained his sword, but was now throwing pieces of fruit at him. An apple hit Eugene in the head, but it felt like a rock and he stumbled backwards towards the edge of the centre of the courtyard just above where the drop to the small pond was, dropping his frying pan next to one of the apples in the process. Groaning as he sat up, he saw Jubair approaching him, having dropped the last few grapes he had, his sword shaking in his hand as he was now raring to kill Eugene. His glare of pure hatred and anger was enough to tell him that. Eugene saw him coming and went to grab his frying pan, but Jubair slammed one foot onto his hand, making him cry out in pain, and used the other to kick the object aside.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Jubair said to Eugene as if he was a parent telling a child not to do something naughty. He raised his sword, the point aiming down at Eugene's body. "Not this time, boy!" he added, pleasure at the prospect of killing Eugene filling his voice. "Goodbye,"

Eugene went wide-eyed as Jubair brought the sword down. He slammed his eyes shut tightly, waiting for the sword to cut into him. Hopefully, it would be quick and painless.

Suddenly, a cry of "OW!" and the lifting of Jubair's foot at the same time caused Eugene to open his eyes and see his foe staggering sideways, rubbing the back of his head. Seeing an opportunity, Eugene whipped up his frying pan and an apple, which he tossed as Jubair, striking him in the face, causing him to swear loudly as it hit him in the nose. Eugene then rushed over and swung the frying pan, hitting him on the top of his head, knocking him out and sending him to the floor.

"Quickly!" Altair said as he rushed over and began to push him towards the side of the main part of the courtyard; Eugene doing the same.

They rolled Jubair off the side of the courtyard and he fell to the pond, landing with a loud splash. Breathing a sigh of relief, Eugene stood up straight again.

"Not bad there, Eugene," Altair said positively to him.

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks," he replied.

Suddenly, searing pain swept through them again and, their bodies lighting up a bright orange colour, both were turned around against their own will so they were facing the castle and pulled forward forcefully as if some invisible person had tied ropes to them and was trying to pull them to the ground. Both slammed into the stone face down in the centre of the sun engraved into the courtyard. Looking up, the two saw Al Mualim walking down the steps from the entrance to the courtyard, having gotten there in a matter of seconds. Rapunzel, who had Pascal on her shoulder, was hovering behind him, a look of utmost fear on her face.

It was not over yet.


	27. Battling the master

Despite losing his Templar partners, or minions in this case, in the fight, Al Mualim did not look very angry with them. On the contrary, he actually looked relaxed as if the deaths of the other Templars did not matter to them. Altair, however, knew very well that an outside expression of someone was not to always be taken. He probably knew that Al Mualim was in fact very angry with the two for killing the other Templars but he had to hand it to him, he was doing very well in hiding it from them.

As his feet touched the stone ground that was the courtyard, Rapunzel, with Pascal still on her shoulder, stopped at the bottom of the steps he had climbed down and was pushed up against the wall and stayed there as if she had been stuck to it with glue. They watched as the old man walked over to Altair and Eugene, stopping in front of them, and, with a simple raise of his hand with the treasure, they were lifted back onto their feet.

"Impressive," he commented on their fighting. "Though, I did not expect you Altair to struggle against them. After all, I thought by fighting and killing them as they were mortals would have taught you some of their moves,"

"Why don't you let me go and I can show some of them to _you_!" he snapped, glaring furiously at Al Mualim, who rolled his eyes.

"Now, now. There's no need to be like that," he said in a kind of voice that made him sound like a parent trying to stop their child from getting angry.

"Say, how did you get down here so quick anyway?" Eugene asked him.

"Teleportation, boy," Al Mualim replied, holding the treasure to prove his point. "How do you think I received Altair's message and got here so fast," he added.

The two men looked at each other with an obvious sign of impression amongst their features, but still they knew that this thing was under the control of a madman and they had to stop him.

"Now," Al Mualim said, taking out his sword with his other hand. "Do you two have any final words?" he asked them.

"Yes!" Altair hissed. "You lied to me! Called Robert and the other Templars' goal foul and all along it was yours as well!"

Al Mualim humped and looked down at the treasure with an admirable gleam twinkling in his eyes.

"I've never really been one for sharing," he said. "And I did not plan to start or limit it to anything besides my comrades in finding this precious artifact,"

"Well that just shows that you're a horrid old man!" Rapunzel barked at him, her voice filled with anger. This, unfortunately, caused Al Mualim to snap his head in her direction and glare at her, which was dangerous at this moment in time.

"Silence, you stupid girl!" he snapped and to make sure she got the message, he held the treasure up to Rapunzel and it glowed a brighter orange colour. At once, she was forced back against the wall almost as if someone with incredible strength had thrown a boulder at her. The pain flared up and down her body and she cried out.

Eugene went crazy upon seeing this and he struggled fiercely against the orange light keeping him in place.

"You…!" he growled, stuttering as he tried to break free in vain. "When I get my hands on you…!"

Al Mualim chuckled. "Oh, please, save your breath and energy," he said, unhindered by Eugene's threats. "Just be lucky I am in a good mood, boy, or else I will have to do the same to you, only much more painful!"

"You won't succeed in hurting or controlling anyone else!" Altair piped up defiantly. "Even if we are killed, others will find the strength to stand against you and your insidious plan,"

Al Mualim sighed. "And this is why so long as men maintain free will; there can be no peace,"

"I killed the last men you spoke as such,"

The old man humphed in a kind of amused way as if he was impressed with what Altair had just said to him, which he kind of was but he knew very well it would not save him.

"Bold words, boy!" he said sternly. "But they are only that. _Just words_!"

"Then let us go," Altair replied in a calm voice. "And we'll put words into action against you just like we had done with your comrades,"

Upon hearing these words, Al Mualim cackled loudly, stepping back a few paces and throwing his head back. Oh, this was highly amusing. Even after everything that had happened to Altair, he still held his action first, questions second way of dealing with things!

Altair glared at him, knowing that he was laughing at him, but remained defiant. "Tell me, _master_!" he sneered. "Why did you not make me like all the other assassins? Why did you not control Eugene and Rapunzel as easily as you have done with the rest of the kingdom? Why did you allow us to retain our minds?"

"Who you are and what you do are twined too tight together," Al Mualim explained, stepping forward, stopping just a few feet in front of the two. "To rob you three of any one of those two would have deprived me of the other. Plus, those Templars and that lieutenant of Robert had to die." He paused for a moment, looking down at the treasure as if he was seeing the faces of those he had ordered to be killed run though his mind with guilt and he sighed. "But the truth is: I did try," he continued. "Such as with you, Altair, in my study when I showed you the treasure. But you were not like the other assassins, you saw through the illusion. As with these two-" he nodded to Eugene and Rapunzel. "They were under your way of thinking and were able to see through the illusions as well. Plus, she has the incarnation that has given her some added mind protection from this,"

Eugene and Rapunzel stared at each other with wide eyes; though a feeling of luck reached the pair of them. Wow! That was lucky they had Altair was here or they, or probably him, would have ended up like the others in the kingdom in the city.

"Wait, did you say illusion?" Altair asked, confused.

"Yes, Altair," Al Mualim replied matter-of-factly. "That's all it has ever done. This Templar treasure, this Piece of Eden, this Word of God," another pause hung in the air for a moment as if he was letting the three take all of that in before he continued. "Do you all understand now? The story of Moses parting the Red Sea. It was never true! Water never did turn to wine! It was not the machinations of Iris that spawned the Trojan War, but _this_!" he held up the treasure to them to prove his point. "it was illusions! All of them!"

"Then what you plan is no less an illusion!" Altair pointed out. "To force men to follow you against their will!"

"Well is it any less real than the phantoms the Saracens and the Crusaders are following now in the Holy Lands and fighting this bloody war over! Those damn craven gods! The ones who retreat from this world that man might slaughter one another in their names?" another pause as he let them take that in. "They live amongst an illusion already, just like this kingdom with It's people all following these gods!"

"At least we do it peacefully!" Eugene piped up bravely. "Besides, we actually know that these gods wouldn't want us to slaughter people in their names,"

Al Mualim humphed. "Good point, boy," he commented. "But, alas, these gods man follows in the Holy Lands do nothing to stop this slaughter if it said in these holy books that they forbade killing," he held up the treasure and his eyes stared into it, overwhelmed with admiration, drunk on power. "So I am simply giving them another. One that demands less blood from man,"

"At least they choose these so called 'phantoms'," Altair said to Al Mualim, causing him to look away from the treasure at him, but all he got in reply was a surprised, but sarcastic sounding chuckle.

"Oh do they, aside from the occasional convert or heretic?" he asked sarcastically.

"It isn't right for you to do this," Altair continued to press against his former master.

"He's right!" Rapunzel said to him. "What you're doing is against their will!"

Al Mualim sighed. "Now logic has left you all. And in It's place, you embrace emotion," he shook his head disappointingly. "I am disappointed with you all, especially you Altair,"

He was unnerved by what his master was saying to him. He probably knew what was coming to them now.

"So what is to be done to us, then?" he asked.

"Neither of you will not follow me and I cannot compel you," Al Mualim answered, his tone dropping lower as if he was becoming sad over what the decision from this would be.

"And you refuse to give up this scheme of yours!" Altair growled.

"It seems then we are all at an impasse,"

"No, an end,"

Al Mualim heaved a heavy sigh and looked down at the ground for a moment as if regretting what he was going to do before he placed the treasure into a small pocket in his robe.

"I will miss you, Altair," he said sadly. "You were my very best student. I know I will never find another as skilled as you,"

"I don't think he'll take it as a compliment right now," Eugene muttered, though Al Mualim's eyes now focused on him as if remembering he was still there.

"Ah, yes, now what to do with the thief?" he said, stepping over to Eugene. "Do you know, where I come from, we hang thieves!"

Eugene went a little wide-eyed upon hearing that word. He had narrowly escaped hanging here once already and that had been when he was a thief. This time, though, he would have no thugs coming to his rescue like last time. This time, he was almost on his own. He gulped, fearing what was coming next, probably expecting some invisible rope to appear and hang him from mid-air.

To his amazement, though, Al Mualim stepped back a few paces until he was about four yards from him and reached into his belt and took out a small ragged bag that was tied shut with a bit of string. He untied it and threw a wave of what looked like dust onto the ground before pulling out the treasure once again.

"Former deceased!" he boomed. "I command you: _rise_!"

As if in response to his words, a kind of whirl wind began to blow around the best, making it rise into the air. As it did, the orange light appeared in it and the dust began to take the form of a Human. The three watched with wide-eyes as the old man was literally creating someone in front of them. It was really shocking to see what the treasure could actually do besides controlling peoples' minds.

After about ten seconds, the orange light shined brightly in the air for a moment, dazzling the four, before it fades away into thin air. When they looked back, Eugene went wide-eyed and Rapunzel muttered: "Oh no!" under her breath, her voice filled with utmost shock and fear. Pascal gulped, his eyes also wide as dinner plates.

Standing where the dust had been was a woman who was slightly taller than Rapunzel with curly black hair, pale green eyes and was dressed in a kind of red dress with small boots on. In her hand was a tiny dagger and a cloak draped from around the neck of her uniform down her back.

This was Mother Gothel, Rapunzel's former 'mother' until a few months ago when Rapunzel had learnt she was the lost princess and Mother Gothel had fallen out of the tower window in trying to take her away and turned to dust as she aged within a matter of seconds.

She opened her eyes and breathed a breath of fresh air. "It's so good to be alive again," she whispered before setting her eyes on Eugene and she gave a small smile. "Well, well, well. Look who I have here," she said, raising her dagger.

Eugene gulped with fear as she approached. Thankfully, the orange lights holding him and Altair where they were disappeared and they began to back away as she approached with Al Mualim following not far behind, both of them raring to put an end to these two.

"Who is this?" Altair asked him.

"Rapunzel's former 'mother' and she really hates me!" he replied, fear rising in his voice.

"You got that right," Gothel added, gripping her dagger tighter.

The two men were eventually stopped by the edge of the courtyard that dropped down to the pond and the lower section of the courtyard below. They were trapped!

All of a sudden, Gothel lunged at Eugene with her dagger. He yelled out and jumped backwards in an effort to avoid being cut open, only to fall into the pond below with a splash. At the same time, Al Mualim charged at Altair and swung his sword at him, which Altair dodged by ducking and diving past him, quickly getting up and placing hiss word out in front of him and backing away, ready to deflect another attack from Al Mualim.

In the pond in the lower part of the courtyard, Eugene's head broke the surface with a gasp and he wiped the water sliding down his face from his hair. That was lucky, but now he had to find a weapon to defend himself before Gothel got to h-

SPLASH! The pond's water shifted violently as something else landed in it nearby. Eugene was rooted to where he was for a moment, as if curious to see who, or what, had just jumped in. Then, as if she was some kind of monster, Gothel rose up from underneath it and swung her dagger at Eugene, her eyes blazing with rage and a want to kill the man who had, to her, kidnapped her daughter.

"Stay still!" she barked as Eugene literally jumped out of the pond, his clothes and body dripping wet, and backed away from the pond as Gothel emerged, her hair now draping down her face and back, giving her the look of some mentally crazed person, and began lunging herself at him again.

Eugene, thankfully, was able to dodge her attacks but he knew he could not keep this up forever for if she cornered him or if he got tired, or worse, if Al Mualim joined in if he got rid of Altair, then he was as good as dead. He had to find a weapon of his own quickly. The frying pans were on the upper part of the courtyard and Rapunzel would not be able to get to them, and neither could he because Gothel was trying to block his way and stop him from getting past her.

_Darn, I hope something good comes to help me _he mentally said to himself as he backed off from Gothel to avoid another swing from her dagger.

Meanwhile, on the left steps of the upper courtyard, Altair swung his sword with all his might at Al Mualim, who dodged the attack by jumping backwards, chuckling.

"I cannot believe you of all people cannot even touch me, Altair," he laughed. "And _you _were my best student, capable of defeating entire groups of enemies,"

"You only last because of what you have, _master_," Altair replied defiantly. "Hardly an inspiration of greatness for you," he sneered.

Al Mualim humphed at this, obviously annoyed, but not put off completely by his former student's taunt to him.

"Even without this, you would have much difficulty beating me, boy!" he snapped. "I have stood up to many men before, all of them many times more skilled with a blade than you, and, as you can see, I am still alive,"

"Then why do you use this treasure when you boast this greatness of yours?" Altair taunted.

"Well, as you know, even the greatest warrior can be defeated sometimes," he replied, his tone not quivering with fear as if he was trying to make up some excuse. "Now, prepare for your end, Altair,"

"Not before yours,"

Al Mualim charged at him again, swinging his sword up at him with all his might. Altair jumped backwards and then quickly retaliated with a strike of his own sword, which was halted by Al Mualim as he raised his. The two men began to push against each other as hard as they could, determination running through them to overpower the other. Even though Al Mualim was older than Altair, he did still have a strong power behind him that was keeping him from being overpowered by his younger enemy.

After a few moments, Al Mualim swung a punch at Altair, hitting him in the cheek and sending him staggering sideways half falling to the ground with a hand slammed over his face. Luckily, Altair was able to dodge another attack from Al Mualim and he quickly retaliated by sliding his leg across the ground and slamming it into his. Al Mualim let out a yell as he fell backwards and slammed into the ground, the treasure rolling from his hand away from him. Altair saw it and immediately went for it, but as he ran past Al Mualim, the old man grabbed him around the ankle and pulled him back, causing Altair to trip over his former master and fall on his side to the ground next to him.

"Too slow, boy!" he growled as he picked himself up from the ground.

Whilst the two were battling, they were unaware that Al Mualim dropping the treasure had suddenly caused the orange light holding Rapunzel and Pascal to the wall of the castle to disappear. Breathing a sigh of relief, she massaged her back.

"Jeez, that hurt," she gasped.

A grunt drew her attention to Al Mualim and Altair, both of whom were now standing up and facing each other with dangerous eyes, their weapons in their hands, ready to use them at any advantage they got. Al Mualim had the treasure in his hand, which he was grasping tightly and holding the hand with it a little further back from Altair as if to make sure he did not attack him and grab it.

It was then he saw Rapunzel. "You little…!" he growled and moved his hand to point the object towards her. Rapunzel went wide-eyed and Pascal squeaked and covered his hand with his front paws whilst clutching down tightly on Rapunzel's shoulder, both of them expecting to be picked up and thrown back against the wall.

It never came.

At the last moment, Altair lunged at Al Mualim, seeing that his focus on him was no longer on him for the moment. Al Mualim, however, saw him coming and brought up his sword to stop him where he was. Although he still had the treasure, he was now focused back on Altair. Rapunzel and Pascal breathed a sigh of relief in unison. That was lucky Altair had struck at the right time.

"AAAHH! Will you stay still, you fool!"

Upon hearing Gothel's voice, Rapunzel ran over to the edge to the upper courtyard to see Eugene duck and dive away from Gothel as she swung her dagger at him again. She screamed at him and lunged again, but Eugene was able to dodge her once more. However, Rapunzel saw him wipe sweat from his forehead, meaning he was getting tired. Gothel was feeling the same way but it looked as though her anger and determination to kill Eugene was giving her some infinite amount of energy. She would get him eventually when he was a sitting duck. Rapunzel knew it was up to her to help her lover, but how?

Pascal poked her on the cheek and pointed over to the remains of the pile of crates on the side of the courtyard with his tail. Rapunzel looked and her eyes lit up with glee.

"Pascal, you're a genius!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the pile of crates.

Scattered about on the ground were several more frying pans. She grabbed two and ran back over to the edge of the upper courtyard edge, her mind racing with adrenaline.

"I hope this works," she muttered to herself as she stopped at the edge of the upper courtyard.

Below, Eugene backed away from Gothel as she approached him, dagger at the ready, but he was stopped by the pool, which he almost fell into if he not managed to keep his balance. The mad woman lunged at him with her dagger, but he dived sideways and she fell headfirst into the pond with a loud splash, sending violent ripples across the surface of the water and throwing some of it across the stone floor of the courtyard. Her head broke the surface a moment later, and this time she looked as though she was really about to explode like a supernova. Her face had turned a purple colour, making her look like a beetroot, and her fists were shaking like mad. Oh, when she got her hands on Eugene…boy was she going to make him **pay**!

It was then Rapunzel struck.

"Hold on, Pascal," she whispered to him and, before he could reply with a squeak or anything, she jumped down from the ledge and landed on Gothel, sending them back into the pond. The frying pans fell out of her hands and were left floating on the surface of the water.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene exclaimed in fear, rushing over to the pond, praying she was okay.

Just as he reached it, Gothel broke the surface of the pond again, but this time Rapunzel was clinging onto her back like some kind of animal infant clinging to It's mother. Gothel grunted as she tried to force her off.

"Get…off…me!" she snarled.

Finally, she shook herself sideways and Rapunzel lost her grip and fell into the pond. Gothel snatched up her dagger and glared furiously at her with her penetrating eyes.

"You little brat, Rapunzel!" she growled. "How dare you do that to me! I am your mother!"

"You _were_ my mother," she replied. "But you kidnapped me and now your following that crazy madman!" she added, the madman being Al Mualim.

"You should be thanking him," Gothel said sternly. "He is making sure I can protect you as I did before from people like him!" she pointed at Eugene, who had grabbed one of the frying pans from the pond, and without another word, she climbed out of the pond and began thrusting her dagger at him again.

Eugene blocked several of her attacks, but found himself backing away towards the end of the courtyard. Rapunzel climbed out of the pond, grabbing the other frying pan, and rushed to Gothel. However, she heard her coming and ducked, quickly knocking Eugene over with a swing of her legs into his, and then shot back up and grabbed Rapunzel's arm, stopping her where she was.

"That's not a nice thing to do to your mother, Rapunzel!" she hissed. Rapunzel's green eyes went wide as dinner plates, fearing what she was going to do next.

All of a sudden, Pascal jumped down from her Rapunzel's head, having climbed onto the back of it when she had charged at Gothel, and clamped his teeth onto her hand. Gothel yelled out and shook him off her with a flick of her hand and then kicked him over to the pond, the chameleon landing with a splash.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel cried, fearful of her friend.

Then, she felt herself be forced to the ground by Gothel and went wide-eyed when she raised a dagger above her. She was going to stab her!

"Rapunzel!" Eugene exclaimed, getting to his feet and rushing over to Gothel, raising the frying pan above his head and bringing it down onto hers as hard as he could.

Unfortunately, it did not have the effect he hoped for. Instead, Gothel just looked over her shoulder with a disgusted look on her face.

"Was that your best shot?" she asked sarcastically. "Then I'll show you mine,"

Before Eugene could react, she kicked him in the knees, sending him backwards onto the ground and then turned back to Rapunzel and thrust the dagger down.

But instead of cutting into flesh, she drove it through the side of her dress and into the ground, though not very far, but enough to make sure that it got stuck.

"Now you stay there, Rapunzel!" she told her sternly. "Remember, this is for your own good!" and with that, she got up, grabbing the frying pan Rapunzel had dropped, and turned away from Rapunzel, heading over to Eugene, who she kicked hard and sent him rolling across the ground as he tried to get back up.

"No! Leave him alone!" Rapunzel cried as she tried to pull the dagger out of the ground, but her mother had forced it into the stone pretty well and she was finding it hard just trying to wriggle it about.

Behind them on the upper part of the courtyard, Altair swung his sword at Al Mualim once again, who dodged the attack and retaliated by swinging his from underneath at Altair, which only just missed him as Altair thrust his body to the side, the tip of the blade only just missing his body by a few inches.

It was then Al Mualim made a move that stunned Altair, and it did not even touch him. All of a sudden, the old man was engulfed in a bright orange light and disappeared into thin air.

"What the…?" Altair exclaimed, glancing around him, remembering that his master had told him and Eugene moments ago that he had gotten to Corona so quickly because the treasure could teleport him. His level of vigilance immediately skyrocketed, fearing now where his master could have gone to, or where he _could _go to. After all, he could appear anywhere with the treasure he had.

_Where are you? _Altair thought grudgingly as his eyes scanned the courtyard around him for his master.

"Behind you, idiot!" a voice said and as soon as it finished speaking, Altair was thrown forward to the ground, his weapon dropping beside him.

Quickly turning over, he saw Al Mualim raise his sword above him to bring it down. Instinctively, Altair rolled over, narrowly avoiding the sword as it hit the ground where he had been, and struck the back of Al Mualim's leg, causing him to fall backwards on the ground with a yell, and grabbed his sword and thrust it down at Al Mualim.

Unfortunately, the orange light consumed him again and all Altair's sword stuck was the stone floor of the ground.

He growled. "No! Where are you!" he stood up straight, his vigilance level at It's height again, and stepping towards the edge of the courtyard with his back to the lower part, ready to swing at Al Mualim if he came near him again. Oh, he was not going to surprise him this time.

"Altair help!" he heard Rapunzel shout to him and he looked over his shoulder to see Rapunzel stuck on the ground, trying desperately to get the sword out of her cloak.

Looking further ahead, he saw Gothel cornering Eugene up against the stone railing that went across the back of the lower part of the courtyard. Then, with utmost horror in his eyes, he saw Gothel grab him and force him over the edge of the courtyard, though, thankfully, Eugene managed to grab hold of one of the railings as he was pushed over them, but Gothel would make him lose his grip, and she would enjoy doing so.

"Altair, stop her before she-" she was saying but stopped mid-sentence and pointed past him. "Behind you!" she warned.

Altair looked over his shoulder. Coming towards him was Al Mualim, his sword raised to cut into him. Altair dodged by ducking and doing this kind of spin around him and then pushing his body against his master. Al Mualim yelled out as he flew forward and landed with a splash in the pond, sending violent waves over the edge and across the stone floor of the courtyard. He broke the surface, a look of utmost anger blazing away in his eyes like an inferno.

"You will pay for that, Altair!" he shouted at him, grabbing the treasure that had dropped out of his hand when he had been pushed into the pond.

But it was then he saw a pair of eyes on the side of the treasure and a green skin quickly formed behind it to reveal a chameleon. It was Pascal. Before Al Mualim's mind could process what he was seeing, Pascal jumped onto his shoulder and shot his tongue out into his ear. The move stunned the old man and he dropped the treasure into the pond as he tried to get the chameleon off him.

"Altair now!" Rapunzel shouted to him.

He nodded and dived into the pond onto Al Mualim, knocking Pascal off him as he dragged his master under the pond's surface, throwing water about, some of which hit Rapunzel. The two struggled against one another, determination running through their veins in their bid overpower the other and kill him. Pascal swam to the edge of the pond and climbed out, shaking himself dry and, upon seeing the treasure, extended his tongue out. It hit the side of it and he began to pull it out of the water as hard as he could towards Rapunzel.

"Good work, Pascal," she said to him approvingly.

Just then, a yell from behind caused her to look over her shoulder and, at once, the feeling of victory was suddenly replaced by her worst fear.

Gothel was standing over Eugene, leaning on the top of the stone railing, her hand with the frying pan leaning next to her other arm as if she was a normal person enjoying the view. He was now gripping the end of the stone courtyard floor as hard as he could with one hand; the other was hanging alongside his body all red after Gothel slammed her foot against it when he had been holding on the railings. She stared down at the panic-stricken man with a deathly glare in her eyes, one that also contained a hint of amusement at this. Finally, she was going to kill the man who had taken her daughter from her and almost ruined everything for them.

"You made a big mistake taking Rapunzel away from me, Rider," she said to him, placing her foot on his hand.

"You made the same mistake when you took her when she was a baby," he replied defiantly.

Gothel cringed a little upon hearing that, but said nothing and began to press down hard on his fingers. The pain flared up across his hand and he gasped, gritting his teeth together to try and conceal it.

"Any last words?" she hissed, a hint of amusement in her voice, wanting to see if he would beg or anything before she killed him.

Eugene clenched his other fist as hard as he could, which began to shake as it still stung whenever he moved the fingers on it, and glared up at her meeting her gaze defiantly and swung his hand up, landing it as hard as he could onto her foot, hoping it would cause a painful reaction. Sure enough, that is what happened. Gothel yelled out, throwing her hand up as she hoped on the spot and grabbed her foot with her hands. The frying pan flew up into the air and landed next to Rapunzel with a clatter. She grabbed it. Finally she had a weapon, but she could not get over to Eugene and help him because she was still stuck. She tried again to move the dagger but it was useless doing it on her own. The only way she could help now was to throw the frying pan.

"This is the end for you, boy!" she heard Al Mualim shout, causing her to look over at the pond and see Altair pushed up against the stone wall of the upper courtyard, Al Mualim holding his sword over him to bring it down, using his other hand to hold Altair's arm in place. A small spot of blood was visible on his other arm from where Al Mualim had cut it with his sword as they were struggling underwater.

Upon seeing this, Rapunzel brought back her arm and, with all her might, threw the frying pan towards them. It struck Al Mualim in the back of the head and he yelled out and shot his head round, glaring seriously at Rapunzel, only to go wide-eyed when he saw Pascal nearing her with the treasure.

"Oh no you don't!" he growled, pushing himself away from Altair and climbing out of the pond. He rushed over to Pascal just as he was about to be within arm's reach of Rapunzel and grabbed it from him, causing his tongue to let go of it and him to fall to the ground.

"Thank you very much," he said calmly, putting the treasure in his pocket and stepping close to Rapunzel. Pascal backed away towards her and she grabbed him and tried to back away herself, but was stopped by the dagger. He chuckled and knelt down in front of her, grabbing the neck of her dress. "If I can't heave the incarnation, then neither can you or this kingdom!" he hissed at her. "Goodbye, girl!"

He raised the sword above her. Rapunzel went wide-eyed, paralysed with fear that this could be it for her. It was over for her. She was a goner.

Then, just as Al Mualim was about to bring it down, a sharp pain flared up from his stomach, winding him and making him emit silent breaths as if he had been punched in the stomach. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Altair standing over him, hid hidden blade out with a small glint of blood on the tip of the blade. His shocked eyes looked up into Altair's eagle-like ones as if to say: _"I cannot believe you've beaten me!" _and he collapsed sideways onto the ground.

Behind them, Gothel, who had recovered from the injury Eugene dealt her and had brought her foot down to his hand, had been about to end his life when her foot suddenly froze just millimetres above his hand. Eugene, who had slammed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come and make him lose his grip, this ending his life, slowly opened them to see Gothel's shocked face. She looked like a statue. Then, her body suddenly collapsed into a cloud of dust onto the ground, being covered by the cloak.

At first, Eugene was shocked to see what had just happened, but when he saw Altair standing over Rapunzel and the injured Al Mualim, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It was over. They had won.


	28. A small funeral service

Eugene pulled himself up over the stone railing, his red hand still stinging madly, and rushed over to Rapunzel, embracing her tightly. She replied the same way, both of them relieved that they had won and lived. After a moment, she and Eugene released each other and then grabbed the dagger and pulled it out with all their might. It was tough but after a few tries they got it out and tossed it aside.

"Thanks so much, Eugene," she said to him. "And you too, Altair," she added, looking up at him.

"It's okay," he replied. "Are you both unhurt?" he asked.

They nodded and he knelt down and gently turned his master over on to his back, placing one hand on the back of his head as his eyes flickered open and shut several times. He had struck him from behind in the stomach, knocking out all of the breath inside him. Altair knew he did not have long left so he was determined to try and make his master's passing easy and not painful.

As he lifted him up, the treasure rolled out from his hand away from them, stopping near the side of the pond, almost as if it were alive itself and did not want to be drowned.

"Rest now, master," he said calmly to him. "It's over for you,"

Al Mualim replied with a weak cough and looked up at Altair's eyes, now calm with reassurance as if he was telling him he would be okay as he passed on from this world.

"I-imposs-ssible!" he croaked weakly. "The…student! He should…should n-never defeat the teacher!"

"Nothing is true," Altair replied. "Everything is permitted. Those are what you taught me,"

Al Mualim breathed another weak breath and gave a slight cough. "S-so it seems," he breathed, his life slipping away. "Go…go and claim your prize," he lifted his arm, pointing his hand towards the treasure.

Altair glanced up at it with a disappointed look on his face as if it was something he had thrown aside and hoped never to see again before looking back at Al Mualim with the same expression on his face.

"You held fire in your hand, old man!" he said to him in a voice that sounded as if he had been expecting better of his master. "It should have been destroyed,"

Al Mualim gave a slight laugh at this, only to stop with a cough. "De-destroy the…the only thing t-that could…end the C-Crusades and…create true peace? No! N-never!"

"Then I will destroy it!" Altair said to him, his voice telling him his mind was made up over his decision.

Al Mualim gave weak smile upon hearing Altair's words. "We'll…we'll see about that!" he breathed.

Then, with one final breath, his head cocked backwards and he moved no more. All life was gone from him now. Altair gently placed his body on the ground and stood up, picking up his sword from the ground.

"What are you gonna do?" Eugene asked him.

"I'm going to destroy it," he replied walking over to the treasure.

Just then, as he was about six feet from the treasure, his sword raised, it suddenly began to glow a bright orange colour. Altair stopped dead in his tracks, watching it with wary eyes as if he was a deer on the savannah keeping an eye on a lion nearby to see if it would attack him. The object glowed brighter and brighter, drawing the looks of Eugene, Rapunzel and Pascal, all of who were shocked upon seeing what it was doing. In fact, that question filled all of the four's minds. _What was it doing? _

Then, as if answering their questions, the treasure suddenly sent out a kind of array of holographic lines into the air, startling the four for a moment. Then about ten feet above the object, a ball began to form, becoming clearer with every passing second. They watched it as what looked like landmasses on it appeared, followed by darker patches between the landmasses. The three recognized a great deal of many of them as they had seen them on maps. By the looks of it then…this treasure was showing them a map of the world! Seeing it made them breathless with amazement as they had no idea what their world looked like.

"What is that?" Eugene gasped, standing up.

"I…I don't know," Altair replied, mesmerized by all of this.

Then, tiny dots began to appear randomly all over the surface of the ball on the landmasses. Some were really close together whilst others were spread out. There were some in England, Scotland, the Middle East, France, Russia, Africa, the faraway lands of China and Mongolia and India, and some on large places they had never seen before to the west of Europe and Africa.

"What are those?" Rapunzel asked, whispering in shock.

Altair shook his head in reply and, cautiously, stepped forward towards the treasure, keeping his sword close.

Suddenly, a great pain seemed to strike his head as he collapsed onto his knees, gripping his temple tightly and gritting his teeth in pain.

"Altair!" Eugene and Rapunzel exclaimed fearfully in unison, rushing forward towards him.

"No!" he grunted, halting them where they were as the pain overwhelming his body like a blaze raging in a forest. "St-stay back!"

They reluctantly obeyed him, taking a few paces back from him, but watched him with utmost fear in their eyes as he began to breathe heavily and even shake slightly. What was happening to him?

Then, a voice began to speak inside Altair's mind. It was the same one that belonged to the man who had been his former mentor. It was Al Mualim's.

"_I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly," _he said calmly to him. _"I have perceived that this also was a chasing at wind…for in much wisdom…is much grief. And he that increaseth knowledge…will increaseth his sorrow!"_

Altair grunted in pain, gripping his temple tighter as if he was trying to crush it and get this voice out of his head.

"_GO AWAY!" _his mind screamed at his master's voice.

The voice spoke up again, still remaining calm. _"Destroy it, Altair! Destroy it as you said you would!"_

Altair tried to make his body obey. He raised his sword with his shaking hands, but it seemed that the treasure had some kind of telepathic hold over him. It was as if it had taken over his body and was making it not destroy it. By doing this, however, Altair knew that he was being seduced by the power it held.

_"Destroy it, Altair!" _came Al Mualim's voice again.

"I…I…I can't!" he gasped in reply.

"_Yes you can, Altair," _the voice said in a kind of smug voice as if it knew that despite the treasure losing someone who had claimed it and had been seduced by it, it would win over anyone and find a new host, which was probably what it was trying to do with Altair. _"But you won't destroy it," _the voice continued. _"You let it seduce you!"_

"No!" Altair growled, trying to raise his sword, but his arms seemed to disobey him. "I will destroy it!"

_"No. No you won't, Altair," _his master's voice said to him.

He was right. All of a sudden, the urge to destroy it left him. He lowered his sword, dropping it on the ground and approached the treasure, though this time more calmly now as if he was a regular person out on a stroll, and knelt down and picked it up. The holographic image above it disappeared almost instantly as he grasped it.

"A-Altair?" Rapunzel asked, a little hint of worry in her voice as if she was worried he had somehow been mind-controlled by this thing. "A-are you…okay?"

He looked over at her and, to hers, Eugene's and Pascal's surprise, he did not have red eyes or suddenly attack them or anything. He just calmly nodded and put the treasure in his robe pocket.

"I…I thought you were going to destroy it," Eugene said to him.

"I can't," he replied. "Besides, doing that may be something I can regret,"

"But…but…" Rapunzel stammered. "But…you might….you might end up letting it…y'know, take over you like it did to Al Mualim," she nodded at his body lying on the ground.

"You need not fear," he reassured her. "That shall not happen,"

He put his sword away and walked over to Al Mualim's body and picked it up under the shoulders and began dragging it towards the stairs.

"What are you gonna do with him?" Rapunzel asked.

"Even though-(grunt)-he's my master," Altair said between his grunts as he carried his master towards the stairs. "He-(grunt)-still deserves a…proper funeral," he paused for a moment and gently placed the body on the ground, resting his arms. For an old man, he was heavy. "Could one of you help me, please?" he asked them.

Eugene nodded and walked over and picked up Al Mualim's legs. The two carried him up the stairs and across the courtyard into the castle. As they carried it outside, a large crowd, which had been recovered and woken up from the spell that had engulfed them earlier on with Al Mualim, saw them and stood aside as Altair and Eugene carried the body through into the city. Rapunzel's mother and father asked her what they were doing but she just shrugged and told them that neither she nor Eugene knew what Altair was doing.

Altair and Eugene stopped at the gate next to a few guards. "Can you grab a few candles and some oil?" the hooded man asked them.

Probably realising what he was planning to do, they nodded and rushed off back into the castle to get what had been requested as the two men carried on out of the castle courtyard and into Corona's streets. Rapunzel was following now with a crowd building behind her.

"I wonder what he's gonna do?" she muttered to Pascal, who shrugged in reply.

Eventually, after about ten minutes though, it became clear. Altair and Eugene, with Rapunzel, her parents and large portion of the kingdom, had taken the body out into the forest on the mainland of the bay and set it on top of a large grave pile made out of logs, sticks and branches. The assassin then took the candle oil and poured it over the body and the grave pile and tossed a candle onto it. At once, a wave of fire swept up, the candle oil and the sticks fuelling it, feeding it as if it were some kind of monster so it could live on. Very quickly, it began to lick at the robes of Al Mualim's body and soon took hold of them both. So it was a kind of funeral service.

"Well, that's it," Eugene said to Altair as they stepped away from the grave pile, watching the fire burn, the glow of it reflecting off their eyes. "It's over,"

Altair nodded. "Yes, it is," he replied. He heaved a heavy sigh and bent his head forward, closing one hand into a fist and placed his other hand on it, obviously feeling the obligation to pay his respects to his dead master, even if he had tried to kill them and was actually a sworn enemy of him and the Creed. "Safety and peace forever be upon you, master," he muttered under his breath, raising his head and lowering his hands again, continuing to watch the flames burn away on the grave pile.

After a few moments, Altair turned and walked back towards the city. "Come, Salad," he said to him as he neared him. He nodded and followed him through the crowd that parted, allowing him to pass. Some decided to follow them. Rapunzel walked up to Eugene and rested her hand on his shoulder, her and Pascal joining Eugene in watching the body of the old man burn away on the grave pile.

"Can't believe It's all over," she said to him, a sense of relief in her voice.

He nodded. "Yeah," was his reply. "It's finished," and he turned away and began walking back towards Corona, Rapunzel following close behind.

It was a small funeral service, but it was one the entire town would remember forever as it would, along with the last few days, become a part of their history.


	29. Going home

**The next day**

For Corona, the dark weather that had reigned over much of the sky yesterday had now disappeared and stretching on like an everlasting sea in all directions was nothing but blue sky with a bright sun shining above the city and the land around it. A gentle and cool summer breeze was blowing through the air and an aura of calm had descended on the world. It was as if all of the troubles of the city had finally been swept away with what happened yesterday in the city. Corona was at peace once more.

In the stables next to the bridge leading from the city to the mainland, a small group had gathered. At the front were Rapunzel, who had Pascal on her shoulder, Eugene, the king, the queen, Salad and Maximus. In front of them, setting up his horse was Altair. He finished attaching the saddle to the animal, which snorted and kicked It's hoof at the hay on the floor below.

"Easy, boy," Altair calmed it, grabbing the reins.

When he finished, he checked to make sure he had his weapons. He did. He then checked in his duffel bag on the side of the horse saddle to make sure the treasure, which was wrapped up in a piece of cloth, was still there. It was. When he was done, he turned to the group.

"Well, that's it," he said. "I just want to say…it was great coming to know you all and I thank for your help in ridding us of this threat once and for all,"

"What about in the Holy Lands?" the queen asked. "The Templars will still be there,"

Altair nodded at her statement. "That is true, they will be," he replied, but reassurance came into voice. "But, fear not, your highness. They will have trouble finding it," he looked back at the treasure in his duffel bag, a hint of fear and concern for the future momentarily filling his mind, but he did not let it worry him. Right now, it was quite a moving time for he was going to be leaving his new friends.

Altair looked back at the king, who stepped forward and held up his hand, which Altair shook.

"Thank you for helping in saving my daughter," he said.

"It was my pleasure," Altair replied, releasing the king's hand.

The king stepped back and Altair barely had time to even blink before Rapunzel moved forward and embraced him tightly. Altair was taken by surprise for a moment, the others chuckled at, and it was a few moments before he embraced her.

"Thanks for all your help, Altair," she said to him, looking up at him with a smile, which he returned. "And for helping in saving me," she added.

He nodded. "And thank you for your help," he replied. "And for also healing my arm yesterday," he added, having forgotten to thank her after she had patched up his wound when they got back to Corona after Al Mualim's funeral service.

Pascal climbed up Rapunzel's head and sat on top of it, looking at up the assassin. She stepped back, her hand in a small pocket in her dress, and Altair chuckled.

"See you, Pascal," he said to the chameleon.

Pascal replied with a squeak, probably saying goodbye as well, and raised his fist. Altair bumped his against it and Pascal climbed back down onto Rapunzel's shoulder and she stepped back. Altair then walked over to Salad, who was standing next to Maximus.

"Will you be alright here now?" he asked him.

The old carpenter nodded. "Of course, Altair," he replied. His eyes looked down at the floor. "It was…just such as shock Al Mualim was really one of them," he said lowly, shaking his head in disbelief slightly.

Altair nodded slightly. It had been just as shocking for him as well yesterday when the captain told him about Al Mualim being a tenth Templar and one of the worst enemies of the Assassin's Creed. Only God knows how hard hitting it would be for those back in Masyaf when Altair returned and told them what happened here in Corona. Then again, they probably would have already known due to Malik.

Altair closed his fist and placed his other hand over it and bent his head slightly towards Salad. "Safety and peace forever be upon you, brother," he said. "Thank you for sheltering me in my time here,"

Salad smiled and bowed forward slightly, doing the same movement with his hands as Altair. "And upon you as well, brother, for your journey back home," he replied.

Altair then turned onto Maximus, who snorted and lowered his head, allowing Altair to pat his snout. "Thank you for helping me yesterday, Maximus," he told the horse. "I must admit, you are the best I have ever seen in my life,"

Maximus smiled at the compliment and rubbed his head against Altair's body, who chuckled along with everyone else as he patted it a little more and then gently pushed it away and turned onto Eugene.

"Well, Eugene," he said, sighing. "It's been an honour working with you," he added, raising his hand, which Eugene shook. It was hard to imagine now that just a few days ago, these two had been at each other's throats because of what was happening, but now they were good friends. "Thank you for helping me in my search,"

"You too, Altair," he replied friendly, releasing his hand and patting his shoulder. "Take care of yourself,"

The hooded man nodded. "You too," he replied, patting Eugene's shoulder before turning and walking back over to his horse and climbing onto it, locking his feet into place and grabbing the reins. He looked back down at the group. "May peace and blessing forever fall on your city," he said to them. "It is such a good home here for you all. Now I have to return to mine,"

He went to kick his heels, but Rapunzel stepped forward. "Wait, Altair," she said, stopping him. "Will we see you again?"

For a moment, he paused looking a little confused, not at her question but of his response to it. Would he see them again? Would he ever return here? He did not know. Looking up at the group, he saw them looking hopefully at him as well; no doubt they were wondering if he was going to come back again one day in the future.

"That depends," he replied, looking back at the king. "Am I welcome back?" he asked him.

"Of course, Altair," he replied. "I mean, you've helped us remove a threat to our kingdom, saved many of us, including my daughter and Eugene, and even finally made the remaining Crusaders leave. You're more than welcome to return here whenever you wish,"

Altair smiled and nodded at this. "Thank you," he replied and looked back at Rapunzel. "Then maybe one day, I might come back. And who knows, by then it could be permanent,"

Their eyes lit up a little upon hearing this. If he would come back in the future, it would be good seeing their friend again.

"We'll see you that day then," Rapunzel said to him, stepping back.

"Wait!" Salad suddenly intervened, stepping forward. "Aren't you missing something?" he inquired, pointing at Altair's belt.

He looked down and saw that Salad was right. His smaller blade was gone. Where was it?

However, a suspect quickly hit his mind and he looked up at Eugene, eyebrows raised as if suspecting him of doing this.

"Alright, Eugene. Very funny, now cough it up," he said, extending his hand.

Eugene was taken aback. "I haven't got it," he protested, shocked at this, pulling out his pockets to prove his point.

Altair was dumbfounded. He suspected Eugene was playing a trick on him as he used to be a former thief just like him, but he was not. If Eugene did not have it, then where was it?

"I'm sure I had it a moment ago when I checked," he muttered to himself, searching his belt and the bags along the side of the saddle. The others began to look around as well, trying to find it, all except one.

"It must be somewhere," Salad said, his eyes searching the ground until they hit Rapunzel, who was just standing with a smug look on her face and looked like she was trying not to smirk. "What's wrong with you?" he asked her, drawing the heads of everyone else to her.

She sighed and took her hand out of her pocket. In it was the smaller blade of Altair's.

"Sneaked it when I embraced you," she said to Altair as she handed it back to him.

He gave a slight laugh of impressment. "Very well done," he commented. "Where did you learn to do that?" he asked her.

"Take a guess," she replied, nodding her head towards Eugene.

"Hey, I didn't teach her to use it in times like now," he pointed up matter-of-factly, raising his hands to prove his innocence.

The others chuckled. "Very funny," Altair said, putting the blade back on his belt and looking back at them. "I'll see you all someday, hopefully," he said.

They all nodded. "You too, Altair," Rapunzel replied.

He nodded and kicked his heels. It was time for him to go. "C'mon, boy!" he said and the horse galloped forward out of the stables and turned right and ran full speed onto the bridge, heading back to the mainland. The group ran outside and waved him goodbye. Altair glanced over his shoulder and waved back to them as he gradually became smaller on the horizon.

"I hope we see him again soon," Rapunzel said.

"I'm sure we will," Eugene replied, resting his hand on her shoulder furthest from him as they watched him ride off into the forest, disappearing quickly into the trees and out of sight of the others.

For Altair, his long and dangerous task of stopping the Templars from gaining this treasure and using it for their own intentions was finally over. Peace had been restored to Corona, him making new friends in the process, and soon the same would be done for the Holy Lands. A task that was sure to be difficult in the days to come, but Altair was sure the Creed would be able to cope with it.

For now, though, he was going back to Masyaf, back to his home.


End file.
